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I /^ \, Congress, ) SENATE. j Report 

* ' T" Session. \ { No. 429. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. / >>^' iS 



U]^IYERSITY 



THE FE^ITED STATES. 



Makch 10, 1896. — Submitted by Mr. Kylk, from the Committee to Establish 
the University of the Uuited States, and ordered to be printed. 

[To accompany S. 1202.] 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, 

1896, 



t-h.\ ^ 






COl^TEJ^TS 



Page. 
Keport of the Senate Committee to Establish tlie University of the United 
States 5 

Hearings in support of the university measure from — 

Ex-United States Senator George F. Edmunds, LL. D 21 

William Pei^per, M. D., LL. D., former provost, University of Pennsylvania. 22 
Simon Newcomh, LL. D., U. S. N., Superintendent of the Nautical Almanac. 23 
Gen. John Eaton, LL. D., former United States Commissioner of Education. 25 
Hon. Gardiner G. Hubbard, LL. D., President of National Geographic 

Society 29 

Ex-Governor John W. Hoyt, LL. T>., Chairman National University Com- 

mi ttee of One Hundred 31 

Hon. John A. Kasson, LL. D., ex-Member of Congress, late United States 

minister to Austria and Germany 31 

Hon. Andrew D. White, LL. D., ex-president Cornell University, ex-United 
States minister to Eussia and Germany, member of Venezuelan Commis- 
sion 33 

Ex-Governor John Lee Carroll, LL. D., general president Sons of the 

Revolution 39 

Communications from — 

Hon. Andrew D. White, LL. D., correcting erroneous statements before 

Senate committee by officers of the "American University" 41 

Ex-Governor John W. Hoyt, reviewing the several objections interposed by 

officers of the "American University " '. 42 

Chairman of the National University Committee of One Hundred, by 
request of Senate committee, transmitting list of members of said com- 
mittee and of executive council 49 

Letters in support of the university proposition, as follows — 

From leading j urists, Army officers, and statesmen 57 

From presidents of numerous colleges and universities 67 

FVom State superintendents of public instruction Ill 

From heads of scientific institutions and bureaus 129 

From heads of national organizations, scientific and patriotic 133 

Objections received and answered by the chairman of the National University 

Committee of One Hundred 149 

3 



REPORT OF COMMITTEE. 



The Committee to Establish the IlTiiversity of the United States, 
to whom was referred the bill (S. 1202) to establish the University of 
the United States, have had the same under careful consideration for 
several sessions, and have heard advocates both for and against the 
measure. 

To those giving a thought to the unparalleled progress of nations in 
this close of the nineteenth century there would seem to be no question 
as to the need of such an institution in the United States as is contem- 
plated/in this bill. The spirit of the age calls for deeper penetration 
into the sciences and arts, and demands better equipped men. Why 
should not the United States, the cradle of liberty and the leader of 
enlightened Christendom, contribute her share to the advancement 
of mankind? Why should we borrow modern educational methods 
from Europe, and patronize foreign institutions? Why should we not 
build here an institution which would stir the pride and patriotism of 
American students, and furnish facilities unequaled in the world for 
the extension of knowledge? 

The more we know of Washington the broader appears to have been 
his conception of a great nation and great institutions. Besides giving 
us a wise Constitution and laws, he planned a beautiful city, with wide 
streets and avenues, with parks and boulevards, rivaling the finest 
cities of Europe. He saw here the seat of government of a mighty 
nation, equipped with political and scientific departments and to util- 
ize these in the promotion of advanced learning he conceived the pro- 
posed national university. He talked and wrote about it for years, 
and at his death bequeathed $25,000 as a first endowment, placing the 
institution in effect under the fostering care of Congress. Opponents 
have sought to belittle Washington's idea of a university, contending 
that he thought of nothing but an institution for political science, or at 
most but an ordinary undergraduate college. His thoughts were higher 
than this. His published words are clear and unmistakable. Harvard 
College, founded almost a hundred years before he was born, Yale 
College, founded early in the century, and other colleges, South and 
North, were doing splendid work when this university was proposed. 

Washington spoke of them as seminaries of learning, and to this end 
endowed the University of Virginia. But in discussing the question 
of a national university he stated in the address to Congress, 1790, in 
a letter to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, 1791, and in 

5 



6 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Lis letters to Thomas Jefferson, Governor Brooke, and Alexander Ham- 
ilton, that his proj^osed university should be for the higher branches 
ot learning, that "the youth of all parts of the United States might 
receive the polish of erudition in the arts, sciences, and belles-lettres," 
and should be open for those who had already passed beyond the semi- 
nary training. His fellow-statesmen, who had labored side by side with 
him in the formation of the Constitution, were possessed of the same 
ideas. Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson and others 
united with such distinguished scholars as Dr. Benjamin Rush in 
declaring for a Federal university, " into which the youth of the United 
States shall be received after they have finished their studies and taken 
their degrees in their respective States." At no time was it contem- 
plated to establish a rival of the undergraduate colleges. The vision 
of these men is worthy the most advanced thinkers of to-day. 

There can be no need for an undergraduate university at Washington 
supported at national expense. Sectarian colleges have already cov- 
ered this field. This bill contemplates an institution for men, not for 
boys subject to class-room drill and control; for men seeking wide 
fields for scientific and philosophic research, and with the world's best 
equipments at hand ; " an institution broader in its scope, more complete 
in its organization, more philosophic and practical in its internal regu- 
lations, with the highest possible educational standards and aims; an 
institution above and beyond the best of the colleges, with their loosely 
attached professional schools, and on its own higher plane existing for 
the extension and diffusion of all branches of useful knowledge; an 
institution where the love of knowledge * * * shall be fostered 
and developed; where advanced students, devoted to any branch of 
knowledge, whether science, language, literature, or philosophy, or to 
any of the combinations of these constituting the numerous pro- 
fessional courses of instruction, shall intermingle 9-ud enjoy friendly 
intercourse as peers of the same realm; where the professors, chosen 
from among the ablest and best scholars of the world, with absolute 
freedom of conscience and of speech, shall be not teachers of the 
known merely, but also earnest searchers after the unknown, and capa- 
ble, by their genius, enthusiasm, and moral power, of infusing their 
own lofty ambition into the minds of all who wait upon their instruc- 
tion; a university not barely complying with the demands of the age, 
but one that shall create, develop, and satisfy new demands and aspi- 
rations, that shall have power to fashion and mold the age unto its own 
ideal, and which through every change and every real advance of the 
world shall still be at the front, driving back from their fastnesses the 
powers of darkness, opening up new continents of truth to the grand 
army of progress, so leading the nation forward and helping to elevate 
the whole human race." 

We have no such institution in the United States or on the Western 
Hemisphere to-day. Between 2,000 and 3,000 American students are 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 7 

abroad eacli year for post-graduate work in European universities; a 
confession that American institutions do not fully equip men for special 
lines of work. It is understood tliat many prominent American edu- 
cators, representing our best universities, are at the present time peti- 
tioning the universities of France to open their doors to American 
students for special work — a confession that European universities 
have facilities that we have not. 

The need of a national university and the interest taken in its estab- 
lishment by the founders of our Government are set forth in a clear 
manner in the reports submitted for this committee by Chairman 
Proctor, of Vermont, during the Fifty-second Congress, and in like 
manner by Chairman Hunton, of Virginia, during the Fifty-third Con- 
gress 5 selections from which reports the committee incorporate as part 
of this report. 

From the report submitted by Chairman Proctor, March 3, 1893 : 

" The value of knowledge is recognized in all civilized countries ; but 
in no country does it deserve higher recognition than in our own, for 
our Government is founded upon it, and we need it everywhere, and 
all forms of it, for our highest development. Hitherto there has been 
practical recognition of this in the United States in providing for State 
universities, for schools of agriculture and the mechanic arts, for mili- 
tary and naval schools, for the Department of Agriculture and the 
different surveys, and for great libraries. It is the purpose of this bill 
to make such organization more complete and more worthy of a great 
and x>rogressive people by creating at the capital of the nation one 
supreme institution that (1) shall complete the system of American 
education by supplying the crowning and true university it lacks, both 
as a means of furnishing upon American soil every possible facility for 
the highest available culture, and of exciting a stimulating and ele- 
vating influence upon all classes of schools of lower rank; (2) that 
shall bring together in friendly as well as high intellectual intercourse 
a large number of the most gifted and aspiring representatives of all 
the States for the pursuit of the highest knowledge in all departments 
of learning; thus supplying in endless succession the best-trained 
thinkers and workers for every field of intellectual activity, with 
broader views of men and things, as well as increased love of country 
and a juster regard for the citizens thereof, irrespective of locality, 
and more certainly assuring to the United States their proper place in 
the forefront of advancing nations. 

"That there has ever been in the past a deep realization of our defi- 
ciencies in this field is manifest : 

"First. From the great mimber of ambitious young men of the 
country who, from the beginning, have been accustomed to go abroad 
for opportunities they could not find at home. 



8 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

"Second. From the zealous and repeated efforts of many of the fore- 
most scholars, scientists, and statesmen to have in this country at least 
one post-graduate university of the highest possible grade. 

"Third. From the many honorable, but still inadequate, efforts of 
existing institutions, and of large-minded, philanthropic men to meet 
this demand by increase of endowments devoted to proper university 
work. 

"Fourth. From the strong declarations repeatedly made by individ- 
ual citizens and organized bodies of men most competent to judge, 
that when all shall have been done that can be through individual and 
denominational agencies, it will still be the high duty and interest of 
the nation itself to establish and liberally endow an institution of such 
rank as is proposed by this bill. 

" Such an institution only could in any proper sense complete the 
now incomplete system of American education, most wisely direct all 
worthy efforts in the field of original research, and utilize the facilities 
for it so rapidly accumulating at Washington. 

" Such an institution only could possibly become the long-deferred 
realization of the aspirations and official appeals of those profoundly 
wise founders of the Kepublic, some of whom not only outlined the 
principles upon which it should be established and the relations it 
should sustain to the Government and people, but also devised for it 
sources of revenue, and set apart lands of the District of Columbia 
deemed suitable for the location of its buildings. 

"The proposed bill is intended to represent and give fruition to the 
plans and desires of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and other Presi- 
dents, together with a multitude of citizens in other high stations. It 
was prepared with the concurrence of citizens most competent to advise 
in such matters; and not only the ends sought to be attained, but also 
the means and agencies to be employed have received the sanction of 
many of the foremost scholars and statesmen of afl portions of the 
country. 

"It provides for the establishment of a university of the highest 
type, resting upon the State universities and other institutions of col- 
legiate rank as they rest upon the high schools and academies — a uni- 
versity whose facilities shall be open to all who are competent to use 
them, but whose degrees shall be conferred upon such only as have 
already received a degree from some institution recognized by the uni- 
versity authorities; whose opportunities are to be open without price 
to qualified representatives from every State and Congressional dis- 
trict of the United States; whose several departments shall have 
endowed fellowships, open to persons of genius from whatever quarter 
of the world, for the advancement of knowledge by means of original 
researches; to whose professors, fellows, and students all Government 
collections, literary, scientific, and practical, are to be freely open 
without detriment to the public service, and whose several heads of 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 9 

departments are to liave advisory and cooperative relations with the 
Leads of Government bureaus for the mutual advantage of the Gov- 
ernment itself and the cause of universal science. 

******* 

" Your committee are of the opinion that the cause of American learn- 
ing demands such an institution as this bill provides for; that the 
highest dignity and welfare of the nation demand it; that it should be 
established at the capital of the country; and that after a delay of one 
hundred years since it was first proposed and sought to be established 
by the founders of the Government it would be unworthy of so great a 
people to wait longer for a more favorable time in which to meet all 
these high demands. 

" The committee, therefore, unanimously approve the bill and recom- 
mend its passage." 

From the unanimous report of the committee under the chairmanship 
of Senator Hun ton, of Virginia, submitted May 24, 1894: 

"In the opinion of your committee such an institution should be 
deemed necessary, first of all, on account of the supreme work it would 
do in every division of the purely educational field — work at present 
but very partially and scatteringly done at those few institutions so 
fortunate as to have a concurrence of competent men with the means 
requisite to the support of systematic courses of post-graduate instruc- 
tion. 

" (2) It would powerfully contribute to the improvement of the whole 
series of schools of the country, from the kindergarten to the university. 

" (3) It would correlate, broaden, elevate, and strengthen the entire 
circle of the so-called x)rofessions, not only furnishing but indirectly 
elsewhere compelling better preparation for professional studies, with 
higher standards of professional attainment, and hence broader and 
more thorough courses of instruction. 

" (4) It would prove a most important means of supplying to a multi- 
tude of industrial occupations the scientific principles requisite to their 
highest success; thus dignifying labor and building up many new pro- 
fessions. 

"(5) It would enlarge the field of human knowledge by means of the 
original researches and investigations of its members, while at the 
same time inducting students of genius into the art of investigation; 
thus helping mankind to an earlier mastery over the hidden forces of 
nature. 

" (6) Such an institution would prove a powerful defender as well as 
discoverer and teacher of truth. 

" '■ Among its members there would always be moral heroes as superior 
to the menaces of power as to the insidious arts of the most skillful 
and corrupt devotees of false gods — men able to unmask (prror and bold 



10 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

to stand for the right at all hazards. The sacredness of truth, freedom 
of thought, and freedom of speech will be the inscrii)tion upon its 
portals.' 

"(7) The proposed university is also a patriotic necessity. It would 
secure to us as a great i^eople the independence we need in things intel- 
lectual. It would strengthen our love of country, and so x)rove a new 
and powerful safeguard of free institutions. It would gather to its 
seat not onl}^ persons of genius and of lofty aspirations from all por- 
tions of the Union, but from all parts of the civilized world; thus at 
once stopping the i^resent exodus to foreign institutions for advantages 
we do not here furnish, and turning the tide of superior learning to our 
own shores. It would help the United States to a commanding influ- 
ence as a beneficent power among the nations ; to a iDractical leadership 
in the march of civilization. 

" For these important reasons the establishment of such an institution 
as the one now j^roposed has been in the minds of the foremost scholars 
and statesmen of our country from a period anterior to the adoption of 
tlie American Constitution. 

" We find that Gen. George Washington considered the subject and 
predicted the establishment of a national university when in his mili- 
tary camp at Cambridge in 1775; that James Madison, John Adams, 
Charles C. Pinckney, Benjamin Franklin, William Samuel Johnson, 
James Rutledge, and others, realizing its importance and being unwill- 
ing to trust to the chances of future legislation, strongly favored pro- 
v-ision for it in the Constitution itself; that upon the failure of this 
l)roposition in the convention,' solely because a majority deemed ifc an 
unnecessary encumbrance of that instrument. Dr. Benjamin Eush, 
signer of the Declaration of Independence and the leading American 
scientist of his time, eloquently pressed the subject upon the country 
in an address to the people of the United States, saying: 

"Let one of the first acts of the new Congress be to establish within the district to 
be allotted them a Federal university, into which the youth of the United States 
shall be received after they have finished their studies and taken their degrees in 
their respective States. * * * 

"Let it not be said, this is not the time for such a literary and political establish- 
ment. Let lis first restore our public credit. * * * Let us regulate our militia, 
let us build our navy, and let us protect and extend our commerce. * * » This 
is false reasoning. We shall never restore public credit, regulate our militia, build 
a navy, and revive our commerce until we remove the ignorance and prejudices and 
change the habits of our citizens. 

"It was in this great interest that Thomas Jefferson, afterwards its 
supporter as President, while yet Yice-President (in 1795) even went 
so far as to propose the imx3ortation of a learned faculty from Geneva 
as a means of beginning the work of such a university. 

"It was because of his continued and ever-deepening interest in the 
early founding of the institution that President Washington, having 

'Madison Papers, II, 740; III, 1354, 1577. 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 11 

consulted with James Madison and Edmund Eandolph, announced to 
tlie Commissioners of this District, in 1795, his purpose to contribute 
a considerable sum, in stocks of the Potomac Company, toward the 
founding- of a university peculiarly American in character, saying : 

"For this reason I have greatly wished to see a plan adopted by which the arts, 
sciences, and belles-lettres could be taught in their fullest extent, thereby embrac- 
ing all the advantages of European tuition with the means of acquiring the liberal 
knowledge which is necessary to qualify our citizens for the exigencies of public as 
well as private life, and (which with me is a consideration of great magnitude) by 
assembling the youth from the different parts of this rising Republic, contributing 
from their intercourse an interchange of information to the removal of prejudices 
which might sometimes arise from local circumstances. 

" It is known that he actually did contribute a sum which, had the 
purposes of the giver been carried out, would now have amounted to 
over four millions of dollars 5 that in the preparation of his farewell 
address, in 1796, he set apart the 19 acres of land long known as '■ Uni- 
versity Square ' as a site for that institution ; and that in his final mes- 
sage to Congress he said, among other things, on this head: 

''I have heretofore proposed to the consideration of Congress the expediency of 
establishing a national university and also a military academy. The desirableness 
of both these institutions has so constantly increased with every new view I have 
taken on the subject that I can not omit the opportunity of once for all recalling 
your attention to them. The assembly to which I address myself is too enlightened, 
not to be fully sensible how much a flourishing state of the arts and sciences contrib- 
utes to material prosperity and reputation. True it is that our country, much to 
its honor, contains many seminaries of learning, highly respectable and useful, but 
the funds upon which they rest are too narrow to command the ablest professors 
in the different departments of liberal knowledge for the institution contemplated, 
though they would be excellent auxiliaries. Among the motives to such an institu- 
tion, the assimilation of the principles, opinions, and manners of our countrymen by 
the common education of a portion of our youth from every quarter will deserve 
attention. The more homogeneous our people can be made in these particulars the 
greater will be our prospect of permanent iinion ; and the primary object of such a 
national institution should be the education of our youth in the science of govern- 
ment. In a republic what species of knowledge can be equally important, and 
what duty more pressing on its legislature, than to patronize a plan for communicat- 
ing it to those who are to be the guardians of the future liberties of the country? 

"We also find that, immediately after this last appeal of Washington, 
the commissioners appointed under the act to establish the temporary 
and permanent seat of the Grovernment of the United States presented 
to Congress a memorial in this same behalf, urging the importance of 
the project, and especially saying: 

"We flatter oiirselves it is only necessary to bring this subject within the view of 
the Federal Legislature. "We think you will eagerly seize the occasion to extend to 
it your patronage, to give birth to an institution which may perpetuate and endear 
your names to the latest posterity. 

" It is also a matter of history that Presidents John Adams and 
Thomas Jefferson favored the university proposition throughout their 
terras of office, repeatedly urging its importance upon Congress. 



12 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

"For example, in Lis sixth aimnal message. President Jefferson, hay- 
iug already i)redicted favorable action by Congress and discussed the 
use of the Treasury surplus for a national endowment, said: 

"Education is here placed among the articles of public care; not that it would be 
proposed to take its ordinary branches out of the hands of private enterprise, which 
manages so much better all the concerns to which it is equal, but a public institu- 
tion can alone supply those sciences which, though rarely called for, are necessary 
to complete the circle, all the parts of which contribute to the improvement of the 
country, and some to its preservation. * * » The present consideration of a 
national establishment for education particularly is rendered proper by this circiim- 
stance also, that if Congress, approving the proposition, shall yet think it more eligi- 
ble to found it on a donation of lands, they have it now in their power to endow it 
with those which will be among the earliest to produce the necessary income. 

"The utterances of President Madison are so emphatic and impor- 
tant that we quote briefly from a number of them, 
" From his second message these words : 

"By enlightening the opinions, by expanding the patriotism and by assimilating 
the principles, the interests, and the manners of those who might resort to this 
temple of science, to be redistributed in due time through every portion of the com- 
munity, sources of jealousy and prejudice would be diminished, the features of 
national character would be mviltiplied, and greater extent given to social harmony. 
But, above all, a well-constituted seminary in the center of the nation is recom- 
mended by the consideration that the additional instruction emanating from it would 
contribute not less to strengthen the foundations than to broaden the structure of 
our free and happy system of government. 

" From his seventh message : 

" Such an institution claims the patronage of Congress as a monument of that 
solicitude for the advancement of knowledge without which the blessings of liberty 
can not'be fully enjoyed or long preserved; as a model of instruction in the forma- 
tion of other seminaries ; as a nursery of enlightened preceptors ; as a central resort 
of youth and genius from every part of the country, diffusing on their return exam- 
ples of those national feelings, those liberal sentiments, and those congenial man- 
ners which contribute to cement our Union and add strength to the political fabric 
of which that is the foundation. 

" In his final message he further said : 

"The importance which I have attached to the establishment of a university 
within this District on a scale and for objects worthy the attention of the American 
nation induces me to renew my recommendation of it to the favorable consideration 
of Congress. 

"The university proposition also received the support of President 
James Monroe, whose sympathies with the desires and plans of Wash- 
ington found expression at many times, and who fondly hoped that 
Columbian College, which did at different times later receive aid from 
Congress, would somehow grow into the desired institution. On the 
28th of March, 1820, he said: 

"The establishment of the institution within the Federal District in the presence 
of Congress and of all the Departments of the Government will secure to those who 
may be educated in it many important advantages. * * * If it receives here- 
after the proper encouragement, it can not fail to be eminently useful to the nation. 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 13 

" The same, and more, may be said of Joliu Quincy Adams, who often 
urged it, even before he came to the Presidency, and who in his first 
message referred to it with a touching eloquence in these terms : 

"Among the first, perhaps the very first, instruments for the improvement of the 
condition of men is knowledge, and to the acquisition of much of the kno^yledge 
adapted to the wants, the comforts, and the enjoyments of human life public insti- 
tutions and seminaries of learning are useful. So convinced of this was the first of 
my predecessors in this office, now first in the memory as he was first in the hearts 
of his countrymen, that once and again, in his addresses to the Congresses with 
which he cooperated in the public service, he earnestly recommended the establish- 
ment of seminaries of learning to prepare for all the emergencies of peace and war — 
a national university and a military academy. With respect to the latter, had he 
lived to the present day, in turning his eyes to the institution at West Point, he 
Avould have enjoyed the gratification of his most earnest wishes, but in surveying 
the city which has been honored with his name he would have seen the spot of earth 
which he had destined and bequeathed to the use and benefit of his country as the 
site for a university still bare and barren. 

"Again, it was President Jackson who, in 1832, approved the api)ro- 
priation of $25,000 to Columbian College on account of the generally 
acknowledged ' utility of a central literary establishment,' and of his 
hope that said institution was to realize the dreams and aspirations of 
the long line of his illustrious predecessors. 

"Disheartened, as it would seem, by continued disregard of all these 
earnest appeals of their predecessors, but two of the more recent Pres- 
idents have ventured to urge the subject upon the attention of Congress, 
although several of them are known to have favored the founding of a 
central university as the crown and completement of the public educa- 
tional system of the country. Of such as have done so, honorable 
mention may be made, first, of President Grant, who, in his annual 
message of 1873, said : 

•■'I would suggest to Congress the propriety of promoting the establishment in this 
District of an institution of learning or university of the highest class by donations 
of lands. There is no place better suited for such an institution than the national 
capital. There is no other place in which every citizen is so directly interested. 

"So fully convinced was he of the importance of such an institution, 
that he half believed that had it been founded in the time of Washing- 
ton for the higher education of influential representatives of all sections 
the late unhappy conflict might never have come. So impressed was he 
with the wisdom of appropriating lands as a broad and sure foundation, 
and finally, so confident of early action by Congress, that he thought 
chiefly of the concurrence of all friends of the proposition upon Wash- 
ington as the seat of the institution. 

"It is well known that similar views were cherished by President 
Hayes, of whose recommendations that of 1877 is especially worthy of 
note: 

" The wisdom of legislation upon the part of Congress in aid of the States for the 
education of the whole people in those branches of study which are taught in the 
common schools of the country is no longer a question. The intelligent judgment 



14 UNIVEKSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of the country goes still further, regarding it aa also both constitutional and expe- 
dient for the General Government to extend to technical and higher education such 
aid as is deemed essential to the general welfare and to our due prominence among 
the enlightened and cultivated nations of the world. * * * j shall be glad to 
give my apj)roval to anj'^ appropriate measure Avhich may be enacted by Congress 
for the purpose of supplementing A^dth national aid the local systems of education 
in * * * all the States; and having already iuAdted your attention to the needs 
of the District of Columbia with respect to its i>ublic-school system, I here add that 
I believe it desirable, not with reference to the local wants of the District, but to 
the great and lasting benefit of the whole country, that this system should be crowned 
with a university in all rosj)ects in keeping Avith the national capital, and thereby 
realize the cherished hopes of Washington on this subject. 

" We further uote the agitatiou of the uatioual-uuiversity (luestion 
from that time forward, with si)ecial activity at intervals, by leading 
scholars, scientists, and statesmen of every portion of the country; its 
support by the presidents and professors of nearly, if not every. State 
university, as well as by those of the denominational schools and uni- 
versities of every section, and even by the heads of the great and new 
universities founded uj^on those munificent bequests of distinguished 
private citizens which have gained for them the admiration and grati- 
tude of all friends of education throughout the world; also the earnest 
and systematic support of the proposition by duly-authorized commit- 
tees of various national educational, scientific, and patriotic organiza- 
tions ; and finally, its cordial approval by that great body of eminent 
men who constitute the managing and working force of scholars and 
scientists in the many divisions, educational, industrial, and scientific, 
of the Federal Government, notable examples from the distinguished 
class last named being found in the successive superintendents of the 
Coast and Geodetic Survey, of the Kaval Observatory, of the bureaus 
of iJfavigation, Hydrography, Medicine and Surgery, Anthropology, 
Ethnology, and Education; the N^ational Museum, Museum of Hygiene, 
Government libraries, etc., together with those scientific and other 
organizations, having more or less connection with the Government, 
which are so honorably represented by the Smithsonian Institution. 

"As is shown in the memorial of John W. Hoyt, recently published 
by order of the Senate, and of which liberal use has been made in the 
preparation of this report, a very considerable number of the army of 
learned men and officials have at various times advocated the university 
measure in published papers, public addresses, and official reports — so 
great a number, indeed, that the jtroper limits of this report will not 
justify more than the mention of the fact, unless we venture this final 
quotation from a very able report of Hon. L. Q. 0. Lamar, Secretary of 
the Interior in 1885, wherein he said : 

"Eighty years ago President Jefferson, then in the fullest tide of his authority as 
a party chief, told Congress that to complete the circle of Democratic policy a 
national university was a necessity and should be created. In this he followed the 
recommendations of his predecessors, Washington and Adams, the former of whom 
ten years before declared that the desirableness of a national university had so con- 



UNIVEESITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 15 

stantly increased with every new view he had taken of the subject that he could 
not omit the opportunity of recalling the attention of Congress to its importance. 
Mr. Madison, in 1810, renewed the recommendation, with the declaration that such an 
institution would contribute not less to strengthen the foundations than to adorn 
the structure of our free and happy system of government, and that it would be 
universal in its beneficial effects. 

"This national institution which Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison 
thought so necessary has never been established, and in these later years the idea of 
a national university constitutes no part of the plans of statesmen and seems to have 
been lost sight of by the people. 

''In the meantime, scientific bureaus have grown up one by one under the Gov- 
ernment, with observatories, laboratories, museums, and libraries, until the whole 
range of physical science is represented by national institutions established by the 
Government for the purpose of prosecuting researches embracing astronomy, meteor- 
ology, geography of land and sea, geology, chemistry, statistics, mechanical inven- 
tions, etc. If the various commissions, bureaus, and divisions of the Executive 
Departments at Washington, which have for their object the prosecution of scientific 
research, could be combined as integral parts of one scientific institution, such inati- 
tution would be of greater proportions and more comprehensive than any in the 
world, and should a university be erected thereon, with a superstructure commensu- 
rate with the foundation, it would be without a rival in any country. 

" The common-school system, designed to furnish every citizen with an education 
which ought to be a strict necessity for his daily work of life, con stitutes the foundation 
for our democracy. But that is not enough to satisfy its instincts. In the history of 
nations democracies have been the cradles of pure thought and art. The same cause 
which operated in them exists in American society, and whether through a national 
university or in fragmentary institutions in the several States, sooner or later a 
higher education, higher than the common school or the academy or the college can 
furnish, will alone realize and express the higher aspirations of American democracy. 

"As final citations of the views of other men upon this important sub- 
ject, attention is called to the fact that bills similar to the one reported 
by this committee have been twice before unanimously" commended to 
the IsTational Legislature, once by the Committee on Education, of the 
House of Eepresentatives, in 1872, and again in 1893 by the Senate's 
Select Committee to Establish the University of the United States j the 
first providing for the payment in perpetuity of 5 per cent interest on 
a registered certificate of twenty millions ; the last mentioned for one- 
half the net proceeds of the sales of the public lands without limit of 
time. 

"The views of the said House committee are concisely summed up in 
the following concluding passage of their unanimous report: 

"If, then, it be true, as the committee have briefly endeavored to show, that our 
country is at present wanting in the facilities essential to the highest culture in 
many departments of learning; and if it be true that a central university, besides 
meeting this demand, would quicken, strengthen, and systematize the schools of the 
country from the lowest to the highest; that it would increase the amount and 
the love of pure learning, now too little appreciated by our people, and so improve the 
Intellectual status of the nation ; that it would tend to homogeneity of sentiment, 
and thus strengthen the unity and patriotism of the people ; that, by gathering at 
its seat distinguished savans not only of our own but of other lands, it would eventU' 
EiUy make of our national capital the intellectual center of the world, and so help 
the United States of Americai to rank first and highest among th« enlightened 



16 UNIVERSITY OP THE UNITED STATES. 

nations of the earth, then it is moat manifestly the duty of Congress to establish 
and amply endow such a university at the earliest possible day. 

' ' The committee, therefore, aifirm their approval of the bill and recommend its 
passage by the House. 

" The general conclusiou of the Senate committee of the last Congress 
is set forth in no less positive terms, as we have already shown. 

"Should the question arise whether action was had upon these several 
bills, it remains to be said that each of them was, unfortunately, rei)orted 
during the last week of the Congress that should have considered it, 
and that time for action was therefore wholly wanting. 

"And so of the possible question whether, with the efforts of princely 
givers and of powerful religious denominational bodies aiming at uni- 
versities, the wants of our j)eople are not likely to be met without the 
help of the nation, the answer is simple. If we should wholly ignore 
the insufficiency of their endowments, even the richest of them, and 
that denominational bias which they can not escape if they would — 
which, indeed, was and is and will remain the mainspring of their great 
endeavors — the answer must still, and necessarily, be a most emphatic 
negative. 

"No institution, whatever its name or aim, that is local, or that rests 
on either a private or a denominational foundation j no institution with 
partial aims, however worthy as viewed from a local or a partisan 
standpoint; no institution with aims less than national and universal, 
and, on this account, able to command the confidence, active symj)athy, 
and moral as well as material support of the whole people; no insti- 
tution not so related to the public-school system of the United States, 
with its iDrimary, secondary, academic, and university gradations, as 
to furnish the crown and culmination of the whole series, and so become 
to them a mighty coordinating and uplifting force; no institution rest- 
ing on a foundation less broad, ample, and unfailing than that which 
is furnished by the geographic empire and boundless resources of the 
American Union ; no institution with less of dignity, or less loftiness 
of j)urpose than with absolute impartiality to meet all the intellectual 
and ethical aims of a great people, and to secure for that people an 
acknowledged leadership among the nations in all things that make 
for the progress and highest welfare of the human race ; no institu- 
tion less than equal to all these exalted ends can satisfy the needs 
and demands of such a people as dwell under the flag of the American 
Eepublic. 

"Progress in higher education has indeed been made in this country 
since the revival of efforts for the proposed national university; but 
the growth of science, the needs of the people, and the demands of tho 
age have more than kept pace with the increase of instrumentalities, 
so that relatively we are no nearer the goal, the realization of the 
aims so long cherished by the patriots and scholars of the natipn, than 
before. 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 17 

"Indeed, as compared with the leading nations of Europe, we are at 
a yet greater disadvantage, for the development there has been more 
marked than here. France, Germany, Austria, and Italy appear to 
have gained of late a new realization of how incalculably great a 
factor is the higher education in the struggle of a people for supremacy. 
Thus, Germany, having wisely followed the guidance of her farsighted 
statesmen, and so become duriug the last quarter of a century the 
world's leader in the whole field of higher culture, is now lavishing her 
resources upon her universities, strengthening them on every side, 
especially the scientific, and providing new accommodations for them 
at a cost of millions for a single department. 

"Austria, not to be outdone in the university role, has in one or two 
cases not only exceeded Germany, but has placed her central institution 
before all others in the world, in so far as material provision and ambi- 
tious plans are concerned, erecting buildings for its use at a cost exceed- 
ing the present available endowment of any university in America, 
and planning researches in the interest of science which are intended 
to place her in the van of the world's army of progress. 

" So of the Dutch, Scandinavian, and English Governments; all have 
received a new awakening and are moving with a degree of zeal and 
liberality hitherto unheard of. 

"Kor are the Latin nations content to rest on laurels already won. 
France, having advanced tlie educational budget beyond all precedent, 
is now revolutionizing and developing her Ecole Pratique des Hautes 
Eltudes with a view to highest possible standards; is making the Ecole 
Libre des Sciences Politique the foremost institution of its kind in the 
world; is devoting over $3,000,000 to new buildings for the Sorbonne, 
and dealing hardly less liberally with the College de France and with 
some of the great professional institutions of Paris. Italy is building 
palatial structures for her universities at the great centers, fully 
resolved not to be left in the rear of this grand new movement. Every- 
where concentration of means and forces, to the end of leadership and 
eventual supremacy in the university field, is the watchword. 

"It is for America to say whether she will be content to lag forever 
in the rear of nations so greatly her inferior in resources, or whether 
she will at last take the one remaining step requisite to fairly meet 
the demands of learning and of those free institutions for which she 
assumes to be the supreme representative. 

"It would seem, therefore, tliat it but remains to mature and adopt 
such a measure as shall in the best manner meet these high demands." 

The bill before the Senate, as amended, provides : 

That a university of post-graduate rank, with facilities for scientific 

and literary research and investigation, shall be established in the 

District of Columbia; that the government of the institution shall be 

vested in a board of regents and a university council; that the board 

S. Eep. 429 2 



18 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of regents sliall be composed of the President of tlie United States, 
who shall be president of the board ; the Chief Justice of the United 
States, the Commissioner of Education, the Secretary of the Smith- 
sonian Institution, the president of the National Academy of Science, 
the president of the Ii^ational Educational Association, and the presi- 
dent of the University, and nine other citizens of the United States, 
no two of whom shall be citizens of the same State, to be appointed by 
the President by and with the consent of the Senate; that the uni- 
versity council shall consist of the board of regents and twelve other 
citizens of the United States, to be appointed by the board of regents 
from eminent educators connected with institutions of learning in the 
United States 5 that the board of regents shall have exclusive control 
of the financial administration of the university and all its affairs not 
confided to the university council. 

That the university council shall have power to x)rosecute and direct 
the work of the university in courses of higher instruction, research, 
and investigation for the increase of knowledge; that it shall also 
appoint all ofl&cers of instruction; that no chair for instruction sec- 
tarian in religion or partisan in politics shall be i)ermitted in any form, 
and no partisan test shall be required or allowed in the appointment of 
professors or in the selection of any officer of the university ; that the 
facilities afforded by the university shall be open to all who are com- 
petent to use them, on conditions jDrescribed by the executive commit- 
tee, with the advice of the faculties directly concerned ; that degrees 
shall be conferred upon such persons only as have i^reviously received 
the degree of bachelor of arts or some equivalent degree, or who 
have received certificates of graduation from some State educational 
institution. 

That the university shall have authority to establish with other insti- 
tutions of education and learning in this or in other countries such co- 
operative relations as shall be deemed advantageous ; that, in the admis- 
sion and appointment of persons to i)laces or privileges in the university, 
character and competency shall be the sole test of qualifications; that 
as a means of partially providing building sites for the several depart- 
ments of the university " University Square," selected and set apart by 
President G-eorge Washington for the use of a national university and 
heretofore occupied by the Naval Observatory, shall be set apart for 
the use and benefit of the University of the United States. 

That for the organization, preliminary work, and support of the .uni- 
versity an appropriation of $15,000 is made for the fiscal year ending 
June 30, 1897, and $25,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1898. No 
permanent endowment is contemplated at this time, leaving to Con- 
gress in the future to provide for the institution by direct appropriation 
or by setting aside a portion of the proceeds of the sale of public 
lands or otherwise. It is the opinion of your committee that a great 
university can be founded and equipped by the G-overnment at Wash- 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 19 

ingtou at less expense than at any other place or by any private insti- 
tution. By act of, and under rules to be prescribed by, Congress all 
dejiartments and institutions, such as museums, libraries, scientific 
bureaus, hosi)itals, and art collections, laboratories, etc., may be placed 
at the disposal of faculty and students. These in themselves have cost 
the Grovernment millions of dollars, and would represent an equipment 
in many lines at the outset unequaled in any country. In and around 
Washington there exists to-day a scholarship in scientific lines of 
the highest degree, all of which could be utilized by a national 
institution. 

Why should we not provide the machinery for an organized univer- 
sity by means of which these splendid equipments may bring rich gifts 
to the people of our land 1 Such an institution would complete the 
grandest educational system in the world and enable Americans to 
take a most conspicuous part in those researches and investigations 
which are essential to the world's real progress. Your committee have 
amended the bill, and recommend its passage by the Senate. 



HEARINGS BEFORE THE SELECT COMMITTEE TO ESTABLISH 
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 



LETTER OF EX-SENATOR GEORGE F. EDMUNDS, LL. D. 

[Addressed to Hon. Galuslia A. Grow, chairman of the House Committee on Education. It includes 
the chief points made by Senator Bdnmnda before said committee on January 23, 1896, and reported 
to Senate committee by request of its chairman.] 

1505 Locust Street, 
FMIadelphia, February 8, 1896. 

My Dear Mr. Grow: I have been .informed, that your committee -would like a 
condensed statement of the grounds upon which I, with others, believe the univer- 
sity of the United States ought to be established at Washington. I am about to 
depart for Florida for several weeks, for health and rest, and can, therefore, only 
state such considerations as presently occur to me. 

First. The great extent of the United States, and consequently the great distance 
of the larger body of colleges, academies, and schools of the various States from each 
other, makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for them to work in common 
sympathy with and in support of each other. This university will, I believe, over- 
come this difficulty to a very large degree, and will make what, in commercial 
phrase, might be called a mutual exchange and clearing house of knowledge, admin- 
istrative and proper, inasmuch as all the States and colleges will be continually 
from time to time represented in it, and the governors of it. 

Second. Besides colleges, academies, and schools, there will always be scattered 
over the country a very considerable number of persons who will have developed by 
their private studies and their genius the capacity for great advances iu every line 
of research and progress, not only in mere literature and physical science, but 
also in social science. These, as the bill provides, will have the opportunity of 
meeting others of a similar kind from every part of the country, and probably from 
abroad, and can, at Washington, compare notes and help each other in the great 
march of the long-time progress to come. 

Third. The Congressional Library and the libraries and the collections of objects in 
almost every branch of human energy and research, already in Washington, make 
tbat city the most available place (besides its being the political capital) for the work 
of such an institution. 

Fourth. The United States, with their infinite resources of every kind, ought to 
stand in the front rank, if not as the leader, of all advancement for the good of man- 
kind, and with such an institution, which coordinates all local institutions of learn- 
ing, from the bottom up, and which in the main begins where the others leave off, it 
will certainly do so. 

Fifth. The bill has been framed so as to make the work of the .university open to 
all sects, to all political and social ideas, and to exclude all discriminations resting 
either upon sectarian or political notions. All persons properly fitted and capable are 
to have an equal field as seekers after the great truths of moral and social theories 
and problems, and for the discovery of the secrets yet hidden in the vast storehouse 
of nature. 

I need not, with you, refer to the strong desire of the founders of the Government 
for such an establishment, or to the fact that special provision for it was not inserted 

21 



22 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

in the Constitution for tlie reason that such a clause would be entirely unnecessary, 
and might be simply exclusive of the operations of the Government. 

I do most earnestly hope that your committee and Congress will see their way 
clear at this auspicious time, and as a continual remembrancer of the wise hopes of 
the founders of the Republic, to make provision for now establishing this institution. 
Very sincerely yours, 



Geo. F. Edmunds. 



Hon. Galusha A. Grow, 

Chairman Committee on Education, 

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. 



REMARKS OF WILLIAM PEPPER, M. D., LL. D. 

[Made before the House Committee on Education, January 23, 1896, and reported, bj^ request, to tlie 
Senate Committee to Establish the University of the United States.] 

Dr. Pepper said, in effect : 

The question might naturally be j)nt why is there not already a national univer- 
sity at Washington, instead of what are the reasons for such a foundation? The 
leading countries of the world have seen to it with great care aud liberality that at 
the capital of the nation there should be a university, so that the national treasures 
in the way of art galleries, libraries, scientific collections, and laboratories might be 
used for the purposes of higher education. The failure to develop such a teaching 
university in London may be quoted as the exception, whose unfortunate results 
prove the wisdom of the rule. 

My interest in this question is not new. Although I have devoted my life to the 
service of the University of Pennsylvania to aid so far as my strength permitted in 
the work of building up that institution, I have long felt the importance of a national 
university in Washington. Even while I was the provost, and straining every nerve 
to aid the development of the University of Pennsylvania, I advocated the passage 
of a bill similar to the one before you. I acted then purely in a personal capacity; 
and of course what I express now is in no way official or representative, but simply 
my personal conviction of the need of a great university in this city. So far from 
interfering with the prosperity and growth of collegiate institutions in other places, 
it would strengthen them. It is understood that, as provided in this bill, the national 
university would be exclusively for advanced work of postgraduate grade. It would 
not compete with other institutions for undergraduate students. So far from inter- 
fering with postgraduate studies at other universities, it would secure a fuller recog- 
nition of the necessity for more ample provision for such studies at every institution 
prepared to conduct them. 

What is the number of fellowships open to-day to students desiring advanced 
instruction? A few hundreds at the outside. How many thousands of earnest 
students, who have in many cases exhausted their resources in securing the ordinary 
collegiate education, would gladly pursue advanced studies to fit them for higher 
work as teachers, or writers, or investigators, if such opportunities existed in this 
country. Each great university, it is presumable, will always offer special advan- 
tages for such advanced work in some special lines. The establishment of a national 
university at Washington to utilize the vast educational resources of the capital 
would surely stimulate activity in the field of advanced study at each and every 
institution so situated as to properly conduct such studies. Each university finds 
itself forced to build up at large expense a great library ; it seeks original manu- 
scripts and documents; it must enter upon explorations and develop a museum; 
laboratories must be equipped and maintained, and great sums are needed for these 
purposes. After all is done it must remain impossible to compete with the resources 
of the National Government. Washington has already the material for the greatest 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 23 

university iu the land — the richest libraries, the most exten8V7e collections; numerous 
well-equipped laboratories, departments which are practically organized for original 
research. 

The bill now under consideration would secure the coordination of all these rich 
facilities and utilize them for the benefit of higher education. It calls for no great 
expenditure for lands or buildings. Endowment will be needed and buildings will 
be needed as the work develops, but to no extent commensurate with the great work 
done — for so large a part of this work will always be accomplished by utilizing the 
educational facilities which now exist here, and which must inevitably become more 
and more extensive, whether coordinated in one great national educational work or 
left to be the coveted prize of a dozen rival denominational colleges. In all religious 
questions I revere the sincerity of individual belief, and I admire the energy of 
denominational zeal. But in educational matters I would protest against the admis- 
sion of the denominational spirit. Either the proposed bill will become law and 
give to the country a truly federal and national institution, free from j)olitical and 
sectarian influence, or the educational resources and prestige of the capital will 
become more and more the object of injurious rivalry among many competing denomi- 
national institutions. 

This bill, it is believed, does secure for the proposed university a high degree of 
protection from political influence. While its finances are intrusted to a small body 
of regents, all educational questions — the courses to be established, the conditions of 
admission, the character of examination, the degrees to be conferred, and above all 
the appointment of all professors and instructors — are delegated to the university 
council, a large majority of whose members are to be practical educators, preemi- 
nently concerned in maintaining the highest standards and in preserving the greatest 
purity of educational methods. 

It is no question of mere academic interest which is urged on your consideration. 
It is an affair of the highest practical importance. It concerns vitally the future of 
education in America. It aims to confer upon Washington, the capital of this people 
of marvelous destiny, the crowning glory of being the center and the source of 
highest inspiration of a system of higher education worthy of such a nation. 



REMARKS OF PROF. SIMON NEWCOMB, LL. D., SUPERINTENDENT OF 
THE NAUTICAL ALMANAC. 

[Made January 24, 1896.] 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Senate Committee: I shall attempt but 
a brief sximmary of what seem to me the reasons why a university of the United 
States should be established in the city of Washington. 

1. It would be an eminently aj)propriate keystone to our educational system. Our 
counties, aided and countenanced by State authorities, provide for that elementary 
education which is necessary to the .prosperity and well-being of the masses. The 
wisdom of this policy is so universally admitted, and so fully sustained by experi- 
ence, as to be open to no question. 

Next in order, many of the States of our Union, notably the newer ones, provide 
for a higher grade of education, namely, the collegiate and the professional. Expe- 
rience has justified the wisdom of this policy. I believe that every State which 
supports the advanced branches of education is proud of its work in that direction 
in proportion to the liberality of its allowances and the efficiency of its institutions. 

The great advancement of the nineteenth century in the arts of life bring before 
the people complex problems, requiring for their solution the ablest talent the 
country can produce and the best education it can afford. To provide for this edu- 
cation is clearly the function of the National Government. 



24 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

2. A striking feature shown by our country — one which has frequentlj^ excited 
the comment of observers, and which has been discussed by Mr. Brice in his great 
work on the American Commonwealth — is the wide separation between the politics 
and the learning of our country. That this separation arises from any want of 
appreciation of learning on the part of the American public can not for a moment 
be believed. It obviously arises from the fact that our institutions of learning are 
too widely scattered over the country, and have too few facilities for close inter- 
course to make themselves felt in public affairs. While it is true that the Govern- 
ment of the United States has in its employ many able scientific investigators, the 
work of each of these investigators is necessarily confined to his own rather limited 
sphere, and the position of all as Government employees prevents their serving as a 
medium of communication between the learning of the country at large and the 
work of the Government. 

3. It is impossible to specify in detail the different ways in which the increased 
influence of men of learning at the national capital would be useful. The spirit 
which animates scientific and historical investigation is precisely that of which we 
now stand most in need. The legislator and the head of a department is so com- 
pletely engrossed with matters of detail that he finds it difficult, in many cases, to 
view things from the standpoint of the man of thought. By communication with 
the latter he would receive precisely the suggestions of wliich he stands in need, 
"What greater boon can we offer to the official who is oppressed with details of for- 
eign and domestic complications than the calm suggestions of the lifelong student 
of the special subject in hand, who, though neither a politician nor an administrator, 
can supply information and make suggestions which could not be obtained from any 
other source ? 

4. In the way of illustrative details, I may mention a few of the subjects with 
which such an organization as that proposed might be expected to concern itself: 

A. Intel-national laiv, and the history of colonization and of treaties. — How useful to 
the United States would be a body of impartial experts on these subjects need not 
be pointed out. 

B. The climatology of the United States. — In the observations and records of the 
Weather Bureau we have an inexhaustible mine bearing on this subject. But the 
working of this mine, so as to learn from it those general laws governing the change 
of climate and the course of storms, which would be invaluable to our Western set- 
tlers, requires a different kind of organization from that of the ordinary Govern- 
ment bureau. Organized the work of such an investigation must be, but the 
organizer should be the ablest scientific investigator of the subject that the country 
can produce, and who should be able to call upon the ablest of his fellows for assist- 
ance. 

C. In the policy of such scientific organizations as the Coast and Geological Surveys- 
and the National Observatory the advice of disinterested experts would be of thef 
greatest value. They would occupy an intermediate position between the people- 
at large, who contribute the money for the support of such institutions, and the 
administrators who are engaged in carrying them on. 

5. I have heard no proposed objections to the new institution which are not 
founded either upon a misapprehension of principles or a misunderstanding of the 
purposes and objects of the university. 

It is frequently supposed that the latter is intended to compete with the great uni- 
versities of the country in the work of the higher education. The real effect of the 
supposed competition would be to increase the scope and usefulness of the college* 
and universities of the country at large by offering to their best graduates yet 
more advanced courses, and by placing them in closer relations with the government- 
of the country. The University of the United States would be in some sort the rep- 
resentative at Washington of all the colleges of the United States. 

It is also said that the turmoil of political life is unfavorable to that calmness of 
mind necessary to the jiursuit of study. This would undoubtedly be the case if the; 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 25 

students of the universitj^ were obliged to take an active and responsible part in 
political contests. But I speak from experience in saying that no student of any 
subject would ever experience anything but a wholesome stimulus from his nearness 
to the focus of political strife. I find it to be a fallacy to suppose that the quiet of 
a region far removed from the centers of activity is most favorable to the conduct 
of scientific investigation. 

The great academies of sciences, the work of whose members have, during the past 
two hundred and fifty years, made the nineteenth century what it is, have had their 
seats at such centers as London, Paris, Berlin, and St. Petersburg. The greater number 
of their members have worked most eff'ectively at the very center of such scenes as 
those of the French revolution and the Napoleonic wars. If any instances can be 
found of work done or discoveries made by isolated men, they will be hard to find 
and few in number. 

I may be pardoned for mentioning a circumstance bearing on this question which 
is within my own experience. Fifteen years ago I was desirous of an opportunity to 
devote several months of uninterrupted thought to a A'ery complex and difScult 
investigation requiring several months of close attention. I thought no place could 
be more favorable than a quiet nook in some European town, far removed from con- 
tact with daily duties. But a very short residence in such a situation convinced me 
that such was not the case, and that the best place to pursue the investigation was 
among the haunts of men. 

Altogether, it seems clear to me that there is no way in which our Government 
can more effectually promote the intellectual and material advancement of the people 
than by the institution now proposed. 



REMARKS OF GEN. JOHN EATON, LL. D., EX-UNITED STATES COMMIS- 
SIONER OF EDUCATION. 

[Before tlie Coimnittee, January 24, 1896.] 

Mr. Chairman: I am very glad that Professor Newcomb has directed attention to 
the bearing of the power of knowledge upon human welfare, upon public affairs, in 
connection with the establishment of the University of the United States, and that 
he has so far pointed out how the increase of knowledge, of more thorough and 
deeper thinking, are needed in our legislation and administration; in our business 
industries — indeed, in all that concerns man; but I regret that the modesty of the 
Professor has not allowed him to give us some idea of the many ways in which his 
solution of complicated.,mathematical and astronomical problems in making the nau- 
tical almanac saves time, health, and money. We can not estimate the value of 
ideas in dollars. The Professor illustrated his point by referring to the Weather 
Bureau. The whole story is full of meaning. The late war has brought out the 
advantage of signaling to the eye and by the use of the telegraph. Professor Abbe, 
in the study of the heavens, has gained facts of advantage for men to know in the 
common pursuits of life. The nation now, through the Weather Bureau using the 
telegraph and signals, gathers the necessary data from all parts of the country and 
announces its warnings for the benefit of all the people of the land. 

At first the whole thing shocked certain common ideas^ What had the United 
States Government to do with the weather business? But patriotic common sense 
soon saw its wisdom. A little more thinking showed that winds and storms had to 
do with the floods of rivers, and so now lives and property are saved by foretelling 
the arrival of floods. The profoundest scientists engaged in that work feel that they 
are only on the threshold of its opportunities. The many relations of education to 
sanitation drew my attention to the efforts to preserve public health. When the 
most important investigations of recent years were begun, the nation had kept itself 



26 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

so completely out of all these subjects that there was no money to gather the facts 
about yellow fever and cholera that were at the time afflicting portions of our land. 
A good woman, Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, came to the relief of our far-sighted doc- 
tors and furnished a small amount of money. Sufficient data were gathered and 
maps were made telling in yellow and black by city squares the destructive preva- 
lence of these plagues, to awaken the public miud to the importance of keeping 
them from our shores. 

Congress, rising to the emergency, provided money, and scientists began the pro- 
founder investigations which the conditions suggested; but a spirit of opposition 
began to ask, " What has the National Government to do with affairs of this kind?" 
and the greater results possible in preserving public health were not reached. " These 
researches are in abeyance iintil some future plague wakes us up. [Illustrating the 
amount of data lying about in Government records full of lessons for the benefit of 
the people, he mentioned the problems arising out of the relation of race to disease, 
and referred to the mass of facts gathered in the war, and later in Freedmen's Hos- 
pitals, bearing upon these important subjects.] We delight in believing that our 
Government is by the people and for the people. As has been said, no Government 
expends more for science ; no national capital has more scientists gathered in it than 
Washington. I believe that a university of the highest grade here will make this 
money and these men vastly more effective for the Government and more efficient in 
promoting the welfare of the people at large. The ideas which the fathers sought to 
plant, that the Government is not solely for the benefit of its officers, but for the 
people — for all the people — should be cultivated by every means within reach. 

Russia is on the alert to bring to the advantage of its departments of administra- 
tion every forward stej) in science and art, but it does not exert itself to disseminate 
these advantages among all its people, high and low, for their benefit. Perhaps 
Russia has the best j)edagogical museum in the world. It is not devoted to univer- 
sal education, but is maintained to promote education in the army and under the 
direction of the war department. Just as the French Republic was rising out of the 
ruins of the Empire, acknowledging to our Bureau of Education the receipt of its 
report, which he had sought, a great French statesman wrote : '' Our reports are made 
for officials, and imperfections and rottenness are concealed. Your American reports 
are made for the people as well as officials, and facts are accurately reported." 
Senator Howe, of Wisconsin, who so often urged the establishment of a national 
university, was accustomed to point out its advantages in elevating our civil service. 
It would immeasurably exalt and extend scholarship in all departments of learning. 
New inspiration would be applied to every field of research*. Some assail certain 
officers of the Army and Navy for not keeping up a scholarly spirit. What would 
not a national university do in this behalf? 

An incident in my early educational experience opened my eyes to the extent to 
which our national statesmen had come to divorce themselves from the consideration 
of principles fnndamental to the people, and greatly shocked my youthful notion 
that the more exalted the man, the more wise would he be with regard to the pro- 
founder interests of the people. An educational question of the deepest importance 
engaged my attention, and I tried to gather facts and opinions bearing upon it from 
every quarter. Governor Seward had entered the United States Senate. I greatly 
admired him, and had the presumption to address him my inquiry. According to his 
rule to answer every letter, he replied to mine. How I was shocked. It was in effect 
that he was engaged in national politics and had no opinions worthy to be expressed 
upon the subject. We have no national system of education, and we seek none. We 
want the advantages of diversity. Our national existence depends upon the balanc- 
ing of great forces and the harmonizing of great influences. The administration of 
education is wisely left to the several States, and the States are wise in still further 
localizing it by towns and cities; ultimately it must be an affair of the individual. 
The fathers disclosed their notion of the relation of the nation to education by mak- 
ing it the patron of learning, beginning even before the formation of the Constitu- 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 27 

tion ill the ordinance of 1787, by both, indicating the grade of instruction from the 
lowest to the highest round of learning in giving the sixteenth section of the public 
domain for the establishment of public schools and the township — always one and 
sometimes two or more — -*for the establishment of a university in each new State to 
complete its system of public instruction. 

Washington's idea was that this vast scheme should be crowned by a still higher 
university at the national capital. There is a natural irrepressible conflict between 
slavery and education, notwithstanding the teacher in ancient times, and more 
recently, even, has been a slave. Slavery in our country was especially thought to be 
imperiled by universal instruction. As a consequence, the common school made little 
headway where slavery was strongest. Only one feature of .Jeffersons's scheme for 
education in Virginia, the university, could be organized in his day. The nation 
having assumed the appropriate position of benefactor of education, all questions 
arising in Congress touching education were closely watched by the slave interest. 
That interest allowed the jjolicy of national grants to go on, but the establishment 
of a national university, or any other act which would be likely to tone up and 
energize the spirit of universal education, could not be encouraged, could not be 
tolerated. Even the act making grants of land for colleges of agriculture and 
mechanic arts was vetoed by Mr. Buchanan. The new spirit, represented by Mr. 
Lincoln, was ready to sign the bill whose stupendous beneficence will go on increas- 
ing while the Government stands. 

A few years later the organization of an office of education was urged by wise and 
patriotic men who felt that there was serious lack in our educational forces, that we 
allowed to go to waste lessons of educational experience which the nation alone 
could gather and disseminate. Our theory of government staked all on the virtue 
and intelligence of the people. There had been given for their education a domain 
larger than some kingdoms. The lessons derived from the administration of these 
gifts were most valuable. Should they not be recorded and used? The Bureau 
of Education was established. As Vice-President Henry Wilson observed, "The 
Government should do for the education of its children what it did for the cultiva- 
tion of pumpkin seeds." The chief of the office was provided with a salary of $4,000 
and a few clerks, and the man of all Americans most eminent in educational litera- 
ture was made Commissioner. An office so beneficent in its aims, so limited in its 
functions, and so ably manned, it would seem should have received the Godspeed of 
every patriot. But there is a theory abroad that would reduce government to a 
shrievalty. It would allow a government to punish crime but not to prevent it; 
it would allow a government to make war but not to promote peace. 

The original idea of a census was to count the people in order to determine their 
capacity for war. Our Constitution provides for a decennial census in order to secure 
the data necessary to fix the ratio of Congressional representation. Items touching 
the intelligence of the people were not included until 1840. There are those now 
who believe that the census tells too much about the people for the people — the 
Government gives too much information. Let those who want it pay for it. Of 
course, they would leave those who can't i)ay for it without it. Persons of these 
opinions were horrified at the little office of education. They saw in it the destruc- 
tion of local systems and institutions. The nation had no business with education. 
It was a most dangerous centralization of power, although the proposition did not 
include the appointment of a teacher or the establishment of a school. The result 
was that Congress refused to publish the reports which the law required, took 
$1,000 from the Commissioner's salary, and reduced his clerks to two of the lowest 
grade. The story is most significant in its bearing on the proposition to establish a 
national university. The opposition sought to strike the office out of the appropria- 
tion bill, but General Grant said: "We have abolished slavery and made the freed- . 
men voters; education must perform an important part in the solution of the 
questions arising out of the new conditions, and the office ought to be further tried." 

The result of its continuance is now known to the country and the world. A 



28 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

simple educational exchange, focusing all educational experience witlioiit the 
authority to touch a single school in a single State, it has come to be declared again 
and again by most eminent educational authorities to be the most influential educa- 
tional office in the world. Other offices may issue decrees, but this office, by its vast 
accumulation of data, is able to point out those averages — those iiniformities — which 
indicate the laws of edticational action. My experience of half a generation in that 
office, with the educational thought and experience of the country passing before me, 
left me in no doubt in regard to the question of establishing a national university. 
Its opposition will be much of the same character as that already described, but its 
location and functions are wholly within the constitutional powers of Congress, as 
affirmed by the most eminent constitutional authorities. It accords with the tradi- 
tional ideas of national action in its relation to local interests. It can exercise no 
authority over them. Its influence must be determined by its merits. By its elevated 
grade of instruction it is put out of competition with all other schools of learnings 
but becomes an inspiration to them all. There are those who believe that all educa- 
tion should be under exclusive religious direction, but this is not the American 
theory coming down from our fathers. 

We separate church and state in education as in all other matters. The American 
theory provides that the state must educate to make sure of that universality and 
that amount of education which is necessary to guarantee the intelligence of its 
citizens and the provision of officers capable of wisely directing its affairs. Governor 
Jenkins, of Georgia, in opening the constitutional convention of that State, made a 
strong declaration of this doctrine. But l;he American theory, in affirming this view 
of the responsibility of the state in education, does not limit itself to what can be 
done under its own direction ; it invites the church to do all it can, and freely provides 
charters for institutions under religious or other private auspices. Nowhere has the 
church, as the organization sj>ecially intrusted with the care of the divine oracles 
and the enforcement of their doctrines upon the individual conscience, been more 
liberally treated or been more successful in establishing and maintaining institutions 
of learning. Private benefactions find their way in the main to institutions under 
private corporate direction having a religious aim. Clear it is that no other country 
approaches ours in the amount of gifts for the purposes of higher education. The 
Bureau of Education reports that those coming to its knowledge in the last two 
dozen years have reached the sun of $168,000,000. Religious colleges work in har- 
mony with our State universities. The same will be true of all religious institutions 
and of the national university. Some have feared the injurious effect of great cities 
upon institutions of learning, but the benefits of such proximity have been found 
greatly to counterbalance all disadvantages. 

There has also been great fear in many minds of the injurious effect upon seats of 
learning from their proximity to political capitals. This fear was especially mani- 
fested in connection with the establishment of the University of Berlin. But the 
benefits to the imiversity arising from its location there have already been pointed 
out, as well as the advantages to the Government of the location of the university 
in its capital. Indeed, there is much data from other countries illustrating these 
advantages, leaving little ground to doubt the satisfactory results. In the estab- 
lishment of great denominational universities in and about Washington the opinion 
of our most astute religious thinkers is made manifest. The leaders of these great 
Interests see how they can utilize the great scientific opportunities of our national 
capital. I believe they will see also in due time how a great national university 
over and above them all will aid rather than hinder the realizatioii of their purposes. 
Anyone who will carefully consult the bill before you will see how it is guarded 
alike against local, personal, or partisan control of every kind. The corporation is 
to be made up of men selected for their eminence from diff'erent States. 

The administration of the Peabody Southern Educational I'uud is an illustration of 
the wisdom with which such a board is likely to act ; and in the matter of internal 
administration, the selection of professors, the establishment of courses of study and 



UNIVEESITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 29 

researcli, and the regulation of discipline, tlie university council, made up in part of 
regents and in part of eminent educators representing educational institutions in 
different States, manifestly constitutes a body under the corporation to which these 
responsibilities can be most safely intrusted, and that will surely guard them against 
any untoward interference. That the time for this action has come is clearly indi- 
cated by the increase of the number of post-graduate students in the country, run- 
ning up from a few hundred in 1870 to over 4,000 at the present day, while there are 
some 3,000 American students, it is believed, pursuing similar courses iu European 
institutions. If ours is to be a leader among the nations, should we not have a 
university worthy not only to retain our own students of the highest aspirations, but 
to bring here those from other lands seeking the rarest opportunities for instruction 
and research? The existence of such an institution for a very limited period will, I 
believe, so manifest its advantages that there will be left no grounds to doubt the 
wisdom of its establishment. 



REMARKS OF HON. GARDINER G. HUBBARD, LL. D., PRESIDENT OF THE 
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY. 

[Before the committee, January 24, 1896.] 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: While feeling a profound interest in the subject 
of a national university, so ably discussed from various standpoints this morning, 
owing to the limited time allotted, I shall confine my own remarks to a single phase 
of it, to wit, the great importance of the proposed post-graduate university as an 
essential part of what we are accustomed to call the American system of public 
education — as, indeed, the necessary climax which it has always lacked, and without 
which it has suffered beyond the power of calculation. 

In colonial times educational opportunities were provided almost entirely by 
religious organizations. Much valuable work was done, and many were the youths 
who by means of them made themselves most useful and distinguished citizens in 
the various spheres of life, both public and private, as the history of our country so 
well illustrates. But, after all, the work done was j)ractically limited to the few, 
and was marked by many errors and deficiencies. It was only they who were favored 
in some degree by fortune who could avail themselves of even such ojiportunities as 
were offered. The masses were unprovided for. 

The dawn of the Republic brought the beginning of tTiat better day when the 
great body of the people, in their organized capacity, should regard the needs of each 
member of society, and so devise measures for increasing the popular intelligence. 

It was Daniel Webster who said, "1 doubt whether any one single law of any 
single lawgiver, ancient or modern, has produced results of more distinct, marked, 
and lasting character than the ordinance of 1787, wherein it set forth and declared it 
to be a high and binding duty of the Government to support schools and advance 
the means of education." 

"REVOLUTIONS NEVER GO BACKWARD." 

Having slowly, from small beginnings, developed a great system of popular edu- 
cation — one which, whatever its imperfections, has already gained recognition ever; 
where as a great and indispensable instrumentality for that enlightenment of the 
whole people, upon which the welfare of the individual and the security of our free 
institutions must depend — there will be no return to antiquated institutions and 



Vast are the sums which in the States are annually derived from investments of 
the proceeds of school, college, and university lands and devoted to the maintenance 



30 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of the whole series of educational agencies, from the district school to the State 
uuiversity, so that it becomes a question of iiractical importance whether anything 
is yet wanting to improve the instrumentalities in iise and to meet those demands of 
our aspiring youth for that which lies beyond the ability of even the foremost of our 
institutions to supply. 

That we have a number of universities, so called, which are excellent of their kind, 
are doing the best of collegiate work, and are reaching out into the vast field beyond 
by Avorthy efforts in research and investigation — all this is not enough. 

We should have somewhere — and certainly there is no spot more suitable or half 
so well supplied with facilities for this high work as Washington — we should have 
in America, the best possible opportunities the whole world can afford, unless we 
conclude to content ourselves with ranking second among the nations in the means 
of education, whereas the very nature of our Government demands of us that we offer 
to the lover of learning and the young man of genius for research the very best 
facilities the world can afford. 

This constitutes a reason which everyone can understand, and which strongly 
appeals to our national pride, why there should be planted here a great and true 
university, and that we begin the work of founding it now, in the centennial year 
since Washington, by authority, set apart grounds for its site, and gave of his 
own resources what in those days was a very handsome sum toward its pecuniary 
foundation. 

Nor are the reasons which I had in mind when I rose less plain and imperative 
why this central university should be a national university — the University of the 
United States — with certain organic relations to the colleges and universities of this 
country, especially the State universities, even as they sustain such relations to high 
schools, secondary schools, and jjrimary schools in their order below. 

Forward impulses and furtherances in education proceed from above downward, 
not from the bottom upward. Hence a national university of jjost-graduate rank 
would not only supply better equiiiped men for all classes of work in the educational 
field below, but it would, also, by means of its high and unvarying standard, bring 
about a greater uniformity in all the institutions of the States, stimulating those 
below to aim higher, and of necessity to reach higher results. This influence of 
stimulation and coordination would be of immense value. 

But there is another consideration. Such a central university, by holding aloft to 
the youth of the whole nation opportunities beyond those with which they have been 
familiar, and such as they do not find at home, would fire yet more their ambition for 
the highest attainments, and thiis lead them in yet greater numbers than now to the 
local and State institutions as the only road to such superior advantages. In other 
words, it Avould touch every university, college, academy, and j)ublic school in the 
land, and inspire anew every youth of high aims and ambitious. 

Let the Catholic Church make its university, so well begun, as great and useful as 
it can ; and let the Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, and other denominations do 
all they can to meet the special demands of their people. And so of Harvard and 
Yale, and all the other of our higher institutions. We offer no hindrance. Nay, we 
wish them well and bid them Godspeed in all honorable endeavor. But neither these 
nor the others, nor all together, can meet the growing demand of the American people 
for a great and true university at the National Capital — one that shall be their own, 
even, as public schools, industrial schools, and State universities are theirs; an insti- 
tution wholly free from the trammels of either sectarian creed, or party creed; an 
institution bearing the stamp of the Government of the United States, and hence 
giving to the higher education a new dignity and value in the estimation of the whole 
people. 

In fine, having the public schools of every grade, the colleges and State universi- 
ties, let us have, as the next logical step, a grand university of the United States, 
that shall crown and complete the whole series. 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 31 

REMARKS OF EX-GOVERNOR JOHN W. HOYT, LL. D., CHAIRMAN OF THE 
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY COMMITTEE OF ONE HUNDRED. 

[Before the Senate committee, January 24, 1896.] 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: The hour accorded for this hearing having 
ah'eady expired, I may not say more on the subject under consideration than a very 
few words of a general character. 

Opposition to the university measure is likely to manifest itself in certain quarters, 
and for reasons well understood ; but the great body of educators, scientists, scholars, 
and statesmen who have studied the subject quite free from local and other special 
interest are in hearty accord with the moA^ement, and will warmly support the Sen- 
ate and House committees should they see fit to favorably report the pending bill. 

Faults and deficiencies it may have, which, if found, you will not fail to correct. 
It is proper to say, however, that the general features of it have been carefully con- 
sidered by hundreds of persons deemed especially competent to judge, and that it 
was finally framed by the Executive Council designated for this and other purposes 
by the National University Committee of One Hundred, engaging the most earnest 
attention of it members; also that the bill has since been submitted to the scrutiny 
of members of the National Committee in all sections of the country. 

I shall in due time submit the views of a great number of persons upon the gen- 
eral proposition as expressed both before the beginning of this present movement 
and since. It will appear that there is full concurrence among them on these 
several points, to wit: (1) That there is great need of an institution for purely 
post-graduate work ; (2) that for many reasons which can not be challenged such 
institution should be established at Washington, where facilities of so many kinds, 
already furnished at great cost by the whole people through the Government, are 
present and but partially utilized; (3) that in addition to the priceless benefits 
which a post-graduate imiversity of the highest type would confer, not only in the 
help afforded to college graduates who now seek at foreign institutions what they 
do not find at home, but also as the means of completing the American system of 
public education, and of furnishing to it and to all institutions of the country the 
very coordinating, stimulating, and elevating force so essential to general jDrogress; 
and (4) that since these great needs can only be met by the Government of the 
United States, such beginning as is possible should be made without further delay. 



VIEWS OF HON. JOHN A. KASSON, LL. D., LATE UNITED STATES MINISTER 
TO AUSTRIA, AMBASSADOR TO GERMANY, ETC. 

[Presented before the House Committee on Education, February 1, and afterwards communicated to 
the Senate University Committee, by request.] 

Sir: As one of the advocates for the establishment of a national university at 
Washington, I have been requested to forward to your committee the substance of 
the views which were jiresented by me before the House Committee on Education. 

The reasons for my support of the measure before your committee are undoubtedly 
largely influenced by my long association with the interests of the Western States, 
where educational institutions, excellent as they are within their limitations, have 
neither the endowment nor the facilities to keep pace Avith modern demands for 
higher education. Our young men with special genius for certain lines of study and 
research are balked in their development by the inadequacy of the means of educa- 
tion at their disposal. It is not gratifying to our national pride that even those who 
have wealth go by hundreds for this instruction to foreign universities, often result- 
ing in the alienation of their patriotic instincts. 

Here in Washington are found already the means and facilities for the pursuit 
of the higher university studies to a degree unequaled by any other town or edu- 
cational center in America. Here are vast collections for the study of geology, 



32 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

natural history, biology, comparative anatomy, anthropology, and of the history of 
inventive and other useful arts. Here are great libraries, both general and special, 
one of the latter admitted to be the best iu the world. These collectionB are the 
pioijerty of the nation, and are continually growing. Original research in agricul- 
tural chemistry is continually going on in one Department of the Government. A 
variety of original investigations are perijetually in progress in the Smithsonian 
Institution, and in the geological division, and in the Coast Survey, which latter is 
unsurpassed, if equaled elsewhere in the world, in the authority of its scientific 
declarations. Here the higher work of astronomy proceeds by day and night, with 
an admirably equiijped observatory and with a master astronomer who has received 
some of the highest scientific honors which Eurojie can bestow. Here are active 
and retired engineers of the Army, masters in road and bridge building, and in tests 
of economic materials and structures ; and engineers of the Navy, masters in machin- 
ery and in shipbuilding Whatever sciences and arts are involved in and for our 
progress as a nation are here represented. 

Why should all these vast resources of education lie unutilized and sterile for the 
instruction of the youth of America? 

Here are an unequaled medical library and an unsurpassed medical museum. 
Why should the future healers of human diseases not be permitted to utilize them 
for their higher instruction? 

Why should not the youth of our country have the benefit of the masterly teach- 
ing of hundreds of scientific specialists now in Government employ at the seat of 
government, in such manner and under such regulations as the Government shall 
direct ? 

The proposed university requires no vast aggregate of buildings for its purposes. 
It will require ultimately one building for its lecture rooms and laboratories. This 
will be the nation's memorial tribute to Washington, the first patron and real founder 
of the university. Its libraries are already built, its museums already constructed 
and filled. Its dormitory will be the city, its school of oratory and patriotism the 
Capitol of the nation. 

An institution for higher education so founded and conducted will offer its advan- 
tages to the intelligent youth of the country of limited means — and they are the 
great majority, especially iu the Western and Southern States, and I think it may be 
said of the Northern also — at less cost than in Europe, while cultivating in them 
the spirit of devotion to their own country. From it they Avill return to their 
own States prepared to lead their respective communities in the continuous march 
of civilization, of science, and of material development. 

If this education, owing to the facilities already existing, can be furnished at less 
cost to the student than in other universities of the country, surely the people who 
have paid by their taxes for the plant already established are entitled to the benefit 
of the reduction. The great and controlling purposes of its foundation must be to 
effect the widest possible diffusion among our people of that education which all 
the foremost nations of the civilized world now recognize as essential to the 
maintenance of their rank, and to their progress in material welfare. No national 
investment yields such ample returns as that which enlarges the intelligence and 
capacity of the citizen. It is the seed which produces ''an hundred fold." The vast 
private contributions of our countrymen to the establishment of institutions of 
learning proves how well that maxim is understood in this Eepublic. Such contri- 
butions will also flow to this university when once Congress shall have completed 
its organization and assured its permanence. The " plain people" who go through 
life under the restraints of a forced economy, but who have laudable ambitions for 
their sons, will for all time bless the Congress that shall bring the best education 
within reach of their children. 

These views are respectfully submitted. 

John A. Kasson. 

Hon. James H. Kyle, / 

Chairman of Senate Committee to JSstahlish the University of the United States. 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 33 

REMARKS OF HON. ANDREW D. WHITE, LL.D, EX-PRESIDENT OF CORNELL, 
LATE AMBASSADOR TO GERMANY, MINISTER TO RUSSIA, ETC. 

[Before the committee, February 10, 1896.] 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : It seems hardly worth while for me to take up 
much of your time, either with the opinions of leading men in favor of a national 
university at Washington, or with the fitness of Washington as the seat of a great 
university. All this has been very fully and cogently discussed already, and while I 
may touch upon it later, I prefer now to take up another point which seems to me 
of great importance, and which, so far as I know, has not yet been developed. 

This point is, that the creation of a national university in this city by act of Con- 
gress is the logical result of the legislation of Congress upon public education thus 
far; that it is, indeed, the necessary supplement of what Congress has already done, 
and most worthily done, with the final approval of all thinking men who have given 
adequate attention to the subject, not only in this country, but in all other countries. 

I need hardly say that the action by the Federal Congress in favor of education 
in all its grades is no new thing. In laying the foundations of our great new States 
Congress made at the outset, and most wisely, reservations of public land for public- 
school systems. This was done in obedience to a deep-seated political instinct. 
Every citizen who thinks closely upon the history of this and other republics knows 
that the republican form of government has always been the most difficult of all 
forms to maintain ; that in the great majority of cases in the past, as a simple histor- 
ical fact, it has not been maintained, and that the main fundamental thing in which 
this Republic differs from the great number of republics which in times past and in 
our own times have gone to ruin, is the fact that we have developed, and are devel- 
oping, a people better fitted by education to exercise self-government than any other, 
save Switzerland, has ever done. 

But Congressional action has not stopped with primary and secondary school sys- 
tems. At an early day large appropriations were made for universities in the newer 
States, and with most noble results. It is true that some of the States have not 
done as well as others, but when we see growing out of these appropriations such 
great and beneficent institutions of learning as the universities of Michigan, of 
Indiana, of Illinois, of Iowa, of Wisconsin, of Minnesota, of California, and of other 
States, we must feel that the country has been far more than repaid for the natioual 
outlay upon these foundations. 

A still more striking example of the carrying out of this san)e policy by Congress 
is seen in the Morrill act of 1862 That act provided for an institution in every 
State in which instruction should be given in science, pure and applied, in classics, 
and in military tactics. Proposed at first by the Hon. Justin S. Morrill, when he 
was in the House of Representatives, it was vetoedby President Buchanan, but, after 
a change in Administration, having been proposed again by Mr. Morrill, who had 
come into the Senate of the United States, it became a law by the signature of 
Abraham Lincoln. 

Mr. Chairman, I believe that this act of 1862, known as the Morrill bill, was one 
of the greatest things in the history of this country, or of any country. That bill, 
as I have said, created in every State and every Territory of the United States a 
center for scientific, technical, classical, general, and even military instruction. It 
was very broad in its scope and liberal in its provisions, and has proved to be a 
vast benefit to every State and Territory, and therefore to the nation as a whole. 

One very noble result of the bill is that, while all these institutions — about fifty in 
number — endowed by the United States are doing their full work, each is doing it 
mainly in accordance with the needs of the State in which it is situated, as deter- 
mined by the legislature of that State and by the trustees and faculty of each insti- 
tution. In all the management of these institutions there has been no trace of what 
has been stigmatized as undue centralization or as "paternalism." 

S. Eep. 429 3 



34 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

You have, no doubt, heard the story of the French minister of public instruction, 
who, when a gentleman was calling on him one morning, took out his watch, picked 
up a certain book, and opening it to a certain page, said: "Every college in France 
is occupied at this moment in giving instruction in a particular way on this partic- 
ular page of this particular book." Nothing of this centralizing paternalism is to 
be seen in this great system which Congress has created. Every institution has its 
own autonomy; it governs itself in accordance with the needs of the State in which 
it is located, and each bears in mind that great truth enunciated by one of the pro- 
foundest men who has ever written on edxication, John Stuart Mlil, who says that the 
real danger in public systems of education is that sort of Chinese mandarinism which 
tends to make men all alike by educating them all in the same way. In the Morrill 
bill all danger from this source has been obviated. In Senator Walthall's State there 
is a system suited to the needs of his State, and so in Senator Sherman's State, and 
so in Senator Kyle's State, as in every other State of the Union. 

But this is not all that Congress has done. Having found that these institutions 
were doing well with the endowments already given them, it, at a later period, 
increased their endowments and made them still stronger centers in science and lit- 
erature, in general culture and mental discipline. 

But these are not all the evidences of a great educational policy on the part of the 
United States which Congress has steadily followed out. By the Hatch Act it has 
created a great number of experiment stations in which scientific investigation, as 
related to agriculture, is carried on, and these have been, as a rule, attached to the 
existing institutions created by the Morrill Act, giving them still stronger and wider 
influence. 

The result of all this has been that within the last forty years we have had what 
may be called a great revolution in education. At the middle of this century there 
were some 300 so-called colleges and universities, not one of them adequately 
endowed, and all together producing results which thoughtful men saw to be 
unsatisfactory. 

No one can deny that strong men were graduated at these institutions, but they 
were in the main developed in spite of the system rather than by means of it. It 
is a simple fact that, as compared with the rest of the world, our collegiate and 
unversity system was at the middle of this centurj- utterly inadequate and known 
so to be by every thinking man who gave attention to it. Here and there, indeed, 
as at the University of Virginia, at Harvard, at Yale, and a few other institutions, 
earnest efforts were made to improve the system, yet up to^the middle of this cen- 
tury they had produced comparatively little result ; but about that time one of these 
State universities created by the bounty of Congress, the University of Michigan, 
began to be developed, mainly by the efforts of Chancellor Henry P. Tappan and 
his comjieers. It took on a more decidedly university character than any other 
university in the country had ever done. 

At first this new development was but little known, but it finally attracted the 
attention of a very eminent professor at Harvard, the Kev. Dr. Hedge, and he called 
the attention of men interested in higher education throughout New England to it. 
The result was a new effort in the East ; Cornell University came into being as a 
daughter of the University of Michigan, inheriting some of its best university 
methods, and the election of President Eliot to Harvard University began a new 
and most fruitful epoch there. I do not mean to say that there was any servile imi- 
tation either at Harvard or at Cornell of what had been done at the University of 
Michigan, but I do mean to say that the first impulse to higher education in the 
United States, which brought about this splendid educational revolution, or, as I 
would i^refer to call it, evolution, of the past forty years, proceeded from a State 
University which owed its origin to an act of Congress. 

Of all these creations by Congress I regard that which grew out of the Morrill Act 
as the most beneficent. As you have seen, it led to the establishment in every State 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 35 

and Territory of the Union of a strong center for scientific and literary education 
and research, and I think that when we consider the time when this bill was passed 
we may regard the Morrill bill as one of the glories of this nation. 

We have all heard it cited as perhaps the most glorious fact in the history of the 
old Roman Republic that at the very period when its most terrible enemies — the 
Carthaginians, under a leader up to that time invincible — were in camp near the city, 
the land on which this hostile, conquering army was encamped was freely bought 
and sold in the Roman market. This has always been adduced as a proof of a heroic 
belief on the part of the Roman people in the perpetuity of their institutions, and 
this has been counted one of their greatest glories, as showing that they never 
despaired of the Republic. But to my mind there is something in the passage of the 
Morrill bill in 1862 far grander than this act of the Romans. For it was at the very 
darkest period of the civil war ; the time when it seemed to many that the union of 
these States was dissolved; the darkest period indeed, by far, that this Republic has 
ever known; that Congress thus decreed the creation of a strong educational center 
in each of the States and Territories, providing for the necessities of future genera- 
tions ; and this not only in the States then fighting for the Union, but also in the States 
at that time in arms against it. There is no other example of heroic confidence in 
the perpetuity of a nation equal to that thus offered by the passage of this act of 
Congress. 

It did not, indeed, have the support of many men who were attached to the eastern 
colleges. Very little, if anything, was done for the Morrill bill by Harvard, or Yale, 
or the University of Virginia. It was the outcome of the thought and effort of a 
few men who had not enjoyed the advantages of these older institutions of learning. 
Fortunately, their thought and effort were recognized by Congress as patriotic and 
farseeing, and the Morrill bill became a law. 

The first result of all these beneficent acts of Congress has been to develop directly 
a great system of education in literature and science, fitted to the needs of the whole 
country ; but this is only a part of its work. It has done far more than that, for it 
has indirectly exercised an enormous influence for good upon the whole system of 
advanced education in the United States. The new and more vigorous growth of 
Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, Amherst, Brown, and a multitude of other 
great foundations among the older institutions of learning in the North, and indeed 
in all parts of the country, dates from the time when the influence of the Congres- 
sional acts on education began to be felt. 

And now, Mr. Chairman, I come to the relation of the proposed legislation, upon 
all this great body of institutions for advanced instruction, and, indeed, for all 
instruction throughout this country. The flrst result of such a creation which I 
would name is its effect in meeting what, at this moment, is the greatest and most 
pressing need of all these institutions ; the need of professors and instructors of the 
highest grade, thoroughly trained in research, and brought completely abreast of 
the latest and best thought in all those great fields with which universities and col- 
leges have to do. Here it is that a university at Washington could be of vast use. 
Others have shown fully what enormous opportunities there are here for such 
research; the libraries, observatories, laboratories, collections of every sort, already 
vast, are constantly increasing. 

Doubtless your attention has also been called to another pertinent fact, so evident 
to anyone giving attention to the subject, namely, the ease with which the foremost 
literary and scientific men, not only of this country, but of all countries, could be 
attracted to this city as professors and lecturers. It is rapidly becoming, in my 
opinion, the most attractive of modern capitals. No one of the greater capitals of 
the world is in all respects so well fitted for a winter residence, and few offer so many 
inducements of every sort to a temporary stay. Such a university as could be here 
created would seem, then, most likely to meet one of the greatest wants, perhaps 
the greatest want, at this moment, of all this mass of institutions, now existing, by 



36 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

attractiug to itself the foremost meu in research and. instruction, and by these means, 
increasing the number of men thoroughly fitted to give the highest instruction in 
other institutions throughout the land. 

And here I trust you will allow me to add another consideration which seems to 
me of importance. That is, that such an institution as is contemplated, attracting 
as it would do, a large number of leaders in scientific, literary, historical, philologi- 
cal, and, indeed, all worthy studies, would exercise a powerful influence for good 
upon this capital, and upon all who shall come to it, for whatever purpose. The 
more frequent contact thus brought about between leading scholars of the world 
and our legislators, could not fail to be of benefit to both. The scholars would be 
thus brought into practical relations more close than they otherwise could be with 
the general feeling and modes of thought among the people at large, as shown by 
their chosen representatives, and these representatives would be brought more fully 
binder the influence of scholars presenting the latest results of thought and study in 
all the various fields of research and instruction. I can not but believe that this idea 
was in the mind of such men as Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and many other of 
the earlier statesmen, when they so strongly favored such an institution at the center 
of our national political life. 

I am aware that certain objections have been made, some of them by gentlemen 
to whose opinions I usually attribute great importance ; and, first of all, President 
Eliot has been cited. I need hardly say that he has my greatest respect. His work 
at Harvard has been an honor to the country and to himself. During his presidency 
it has been developed from a college, or a least a very inferior university, into one 
of the greatest institutions of learning in the world. But, as regards this question 
now before us, there seems to be an atmosphere at Harvard University of a very 
singularly refracting power, which, while very helpful in many ways, seems to 
influence men at that point unfavorably when they come to take a broad view of 
other educational institutions throughout the entire country. 

One statement attributed to President Eliot, which has been widely reechoed by 
others, is that Washington is not the place for a great institution of learning, on the 
ground that a great political capital is not a place fitted for research and study. 
Now, such a statement flies in the face of the best-known facts in the history of 
education. 

A large number of the greater universities in the world are at national capitals. 
The greatest university on the continent of Europe to-day — probably the greatest 
university in the world — is the University of Berlin, and yet it was founded at a 
time when political excitement in that city had reached a very high point, since 
the questions then and there discussed related to the very existence of the kingdom 
of which Berlin was the center; and that institution has been splendidly carried on 
ever since by a great number of the foremost men of the time in every branch of 
science and literature in spite of the fact that Berlin has been one of the most active 
political centers in the world. At the very time when Helmholtz was conducting 
his famous researches in physics; Avhen Hofmann was carrying on his great work in 
chemistry; when Du Bois-Eeymond and others were carrying on their researches 
in biology ; when Ranke and Sybel and a multitude of others were carrying on their 
researches in history; and Weber, Hermann Grimm, and other world-renowned 
scholars, their researches in philology and literature — all at Berlin — the great politi- 
cal efi"ort of which Bismarck was the center was at its height in that same city, and 
the Austrian and Franco-Prussian wars were going on. It seems, rather, that vigor- 
ous political life at the center of a nation stimulates vigorous scientific life. The 
same is true of Paris and Vienna and Munich. At the period when political action 
at Paris was most intense and the Franco-Prussian war was drawing on, men like 
Pasteur and De Ville and a long line of noted men of science were conducting their 
researches and making their discoveries. I visited Pasteur's laboratory, and I could 
not see that all the ferment of political thought outside acted unfavorably upon him. 



UNIVERSITY OP THE UNITED STATES. 37 

So, too, although we have had a great deal of political ferment in Washington, Pro- 
fessor Henry, Professor Balrd, Professor Langley, Major Powell, Professor Gilbert, 
Professor Newcomh, and a multitude of others, have gone on with their researches 
in a way which has gained them credit throughout the world. All these gentlemen 
seem to have heen stimulated rather than depressed by political activity at this 
capital. 

But it is said that the creation of a National University here would injure those 
already created. If I believed for a moment that this were true I should oppose such 
an institution as that now urged, but it is clear to me that no such danger is to be 
apprehended. I am deeply devoted to my alma mater, old Yale; I am not less 
attached to the University of Michigan, where during four or five years I labored as 
a professor; and certainly if there is one institution in the country to which I am 
especially devoted, it is to Cornell University, to which I have given the best quarter 
of a century of my life. If I felt that the institution now proposed would injure 
any of these institutions, or indeed any of the other leading universities of the 
country, I would certainly not be here to advocate it ; but I firmly believe that such 
a university as is now proposed would strengthen every one of these institutions, 
and indeed every institution, large or small, of any importance in the United States; 
that it would stimulate them, and send new currents of life into them. 

^ But the argument is used that it is not the duty of the Government of the United 
States to make provision for public instruction ; that this should be left to individual 
munificence. 

It is rather late in the day to use this argument, so long after the policy has been 
fully adopted by Congress, of developing education in all its grades throughout the 
country, and in face of the fact that this policy has been crowned with admirable 
results. Certainly I yield to no one in admiration of the munificence of those who 
have founded, endowed, and made gifts to various institutions of learning in our 
country. I consider their munificence one of the glories of the nation, but I believe 
that with this voluntary system there should be united a system fostered by public 
endowment, and that of the two, the latter is by far the more democratic method 
of providing for education, I maintain that the plan of leaving the entire advanced 
public instruction of the country to the ideas, the beliefs, and even the whims of 
individuals is utterly undemocratic. The advanced education of the country should 
be largely controlled, at any rate, by the people of the country, as such. I would 
not interfere with the right of individuals to do for education what seems to them 
best. But I would interfere with the undue control of education by individuals, no 
matter how munificent or conscientious. More than once it has been seen in the 
history of this, as of other countries, that men, who in their day and generation 
were great benefactors, have become to after generations rather a curse than a bless- 
ing ; that they have seemed to thrust their arms out of their graves to grasp, and 
clamp, and hinder the education of times succeeding their own and more enlightened 
than their own. At this moment there are at some of the Eastern colleges old foun- 
dations, endowed by excellent men in bygone days, which are not only useless, but 
injurious. 

It is said that institutions in the immediate neighborhood of Washington, admira- 
ble creations like the University of Virginia and Johns Hopkins University, and sun- 
dry institutions now existing or likely to exist in Washington might be injured by 
a powerful institution of learning so near them. On the contrary, I believe that 
they, being so near the proposed institution, could be brought into such relations 
with it as would strengthen it and them at the same time. 

And finally, it is argued that the creation of such an university here would act as 
a damper upon private munificence to advanced institutions of learning. I believe 
that the effect will be just contrary to this; that it will deepen and strengthen the 
interest already felt by the American people in advanced instruction, and this 
belief, Mr. Chairman, is not the result of mere theory. It is the result of observations 



38 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

upon facts. Have all these appropriations by Congress for public education since 
the middle of this century decreased private munificence? Everyone knows that 
they have not; they have served to stimulate it. Never has there been such a con- 
stant flow of splendid gifts to leading institutions of learning as during this period 
in which Congress has done so much for advanced instruction. Take Cornell Uni- 
versity alone, with which I am familiar; it received the proceeds of the land grant 
made under the Morrill act to the State of New York ; the grant has been so care- 
fully managed that it has produced a very large endowment indeed, but has this 
prevented the flow of private gifts? The facts are notoriously otherwise; gifts 
amounting to several millions of dollars from individuals have been made to it by a 
large number of persons whose belief in advanced education has been stimulated by 
the creation of a grand institution, as it would never have been without such a 
creation. I believe that if Congress shall make the appropriations which seem to 
be immediately necessary for the inauguration of a national university at Washington 
■wealthy individuals in various parts of the country will hereafter be proud to aid in 
the great work by endowing professorships, fellowships, scholarships, and the like. 

Then it is said that there are certain sribjects of great importance which could not 
be taught in a university endowed by the nation and maintained at its capital. 
Among these subjects is especially named that of political economy. It is said that 
no votaries of protection will aid in supporting an institution which has a professor 
who believes in free trade, and that no votaries of free trade will aid in supporting 
an institution which has a professor who believes in protection. This objection seems 
to me very shallow when considered in the light of what has taken place at our great 
State universities and other institutions relying upon public funds or even on private 
munificence. Political economy is not an exact science. It would be, therefore, the 
duty of those in direct control of any such institution as is here proposed to have 
various views and phases of the subject presented by the foremost supporters of 
either side. More than that, even if it be insisted that political economy is an exact 
science, the question might very properly be discussed, with the approval of both 
sides, how far even a scientific system of political economy could be j)ut into force 
in any given country at any given time. 

It has also been urged that religious or theological questions might make trouble. 
In answer to this I may point to the fact thab the leading universities of the coun- 
try have, in the last forty years, become more and more unsectarian, more and more 
toleraut to men of science of every view in theology and religion ; and I may here 
again cite the example with which I am most familiar. Cornell University, founded 
mainly by the munificence of the General Government, has been aided to the amount 
of millions of dollars by individuals of almost every creed. The university charter, 
as sketched out by myself, and put in shape by Charles J. Folger, afterwards chief 
justice of the State of New York, and still later Secretary of the Treasury of the 
United States, expressly declares that men of any religious sect, and of no religious 
sect, and of all political views, shall be equally eligible to all offices and appoint- 
ments in the institution. I have sat in the board for thirty years, and never for a 
moment has the question of the theological, religious, or political views of any pro- 
fessor, instructor, or other person connected with the faculty, or proposed for con- 
nection with the institution, been considered for a moment. Never has the question 
of theology, in any shape, disturbed the deliberations of either the trustees or the 
faculty. It seems to me that one concrete example of this kind outweighs all theory. 

I might take up various other points, but I will conclude by reiterating my belief 
that such an institution as is now proposed, at the National Capital, would 
strengthen every one of the institutions now existing in the United States, includ- 
ing any which have been created or are to be created by various religious denomina- 
tions at this capital. I believe that such a national institution would give strength 
to every one of these other universities and colleges, by giving them more fully 
equipped professors and instructors, and by sending new currents of life into them, 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 39 

and I believe it, therefore, to be the logical result and fitting culmination of what 
has already been done by Congress, and that the same honor which is now done to 
those who, in days gone by, passed the various acts endowing public-school systems 
in different States, laying university foundations in various parts of the country, 
and especially in passing the Morrill act of 1862, will be awarded to those who shall 
now give to the country a great university here at the national capital. 



REMARKS OF EX-GOVERNOR JOHN LEE CARROLL, LL. D., OF MARYLAND, 
GENERAL PRESIDENT SONS OF THE REVOLUTION. 

[Kemarks before the House Committee on Education, January 23, and by request reported to the Sen- 
ate Committee to Establish the University of the United States. 

Mr. Chairman: While the circumstances have been such as to prevent due prepa- 
ration for the hearing accorded by your committee to friends of the National Univer- 
sity measure now before Congress, I am nevertheless glad of the opportunity to briefly 
express my convictions of its importance. 

That a university of the highest rank, for post-graduate work only, would be a 
fitting supplement to all other educational institutions and agencies of this country 
is plainly manifest. Nay, that it is urgently demanded as a condition of the best 
possible work in every grade of schools, as well as of the more rapid advancement of 
science, is so evident that anything in the way of argument seems superfluous, 
especially after all that has been said here this morning by the distinguished gen- 
tlemen who have spoken. 

I am not surprised, therefore, to find that the foremost of educators — I mean those 
at the head of the most advanced and most progressive of our institutions — are in 
strong sympathy with the national university movement. 

Doubtless such friends of important existing institutions as have not carefully 
surveyed the whole field will feel more or less anxiety lest their favorites may in 
some way suffer embarrassment from the establishment of a central institution. As 
a Mary lander, proud of the rapid growth and importance of Johns Hopkins Univer- 
sity, I would naturally regard with grave concern any enterprise which should 
threaten to embarrass that noble young institution. But fears of this sort have not 
entered my mind, and I am glad to know that the able and distinguished president of 
Johns Hopkins is in accord with this view. He believes as do I, that, planned as the 
proposed national university is, not in the interest of the District of Columbia, or in 
any other interest save those of science and learning, of American education, and of 
the United States as a leading power among the nations, it would in countless ways 
prove an incalculable blessing. 

That such an institution is demanded by the highest considerations that can be 
named is to my mind beyond controversy. The objections, if any are made, must 
arise from misapprehensions or from supposed local and personal interest. 

It is no less manifest that Washington, with its vast array of resources in material 
and men, is the only suitable location for a national university. 

Besides all these considerations, it is not to be forgotten that Washington and his 
most illustrious compatriots saw yet other reasons no less weighty — reasons so related 
to the peace and harmony of the American people of all geographical divisions and 
to tlie security of this new Eepublic as to render the establishment of such an 
enlightening, harmonizing, and peace-making institution at the National Capital a 
political necessity. 

I will confess that these historic facts have at once deepened my interest in the 
present measure and added yet more to the reverence I have been accustomed to pay 
to the memory of men whose heroism in the contest for freedom and independence 
■was only equaled by the wonderful wisdom and foresight used by them in laying the 



40 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

foundations for a great nation, and in pointing out the means of insuring to it both 
permanence and future greatness. 

Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, both because the proposed National University was 
planned by the founders of this Eepublic, the foremost of whom, besides many times 
urging it upon Congress, made important personal sacrifices that he might the better 
assure its establishment, and because such an institution is still a real and ever 
growing necessity, I most sincerely hope that the bill to establish it will have the 
approval of those who have it under consideration, and that the Fifty-fourth Con- 
gress will do itself the high honor to make of it a law of the land within this one 
hundredth year since the last appeal in this behalf was made by the Father of his 
Country. 

[The Committee listened to Bisliop Hurst and others in opposition to 
the establishment of the university. In reply to these arguments, 
statements were offered by Hon, Andrew D. White and Gov. John W. 
Hoyt.J 



LETTER OF HON. ANDREW D. WHITE. CORRECTING ERRONEOUS 
STATEMENTS CONCERNING CORNELL UNIVERSITY. 



Washington, D. C, March S, 1896. 

Dear Sir: On looking over the stenographic report of the remarks made by 
Bishop Hurst and Dr. Beiler before your committee, I observe that they have fallen 
into one or two very serious errors regarding Cornell University. 

The first is shown in a statement to the effect that the charter of the institution 
has been changed so as to restrict the choice of professors to certain Christian 
denominations or " evangelical " denominations. This is completely an error. No 
such change in the charter has ever been made ; none, so far as I know, has ever 
been thought of. The original charter provides that persons of all political parties 
and religious sects, or of no party and of no sect, shall be equally eligible to all 
offices and all appointments, whether in the board of trustees or in the faculty; and 
this feature in the charter, which was suggested by myself, and put into shape by 
the late Charles J. Folger, afterwards chief justice of the State, remains to-day, and 
has remained from the beginning, a part of the fundamental law of the institution. 

There is also another statement which may mislead, i. e., the virtual assertion that 
the professors of the university are confined to these ''evangelical " denominations. 
This also is utterly conti-ary to fact. From the first there have been and are now 
Catholics, Episcopalians, Unitarians, and Swedenborgians in the faculty. I may 
also add that we have had in our faculty, and it is quite likely have now, a repre- 
sentative or representatives of the Jewish community. None of these, of course, 
are classed among those who call themselves " evangelical denominations." Besides 
these there are j)rofes8ors who are not connected with any sect whatever. The ques- 
tion has never been raised, in all these thirty years, regarding the political or reli- 
gious views of any member of the faculty. Indeed, the tendency has been more and 
more away from everything like sectarian trammels, whether disguised in the name 
of "evangelical" or not, and among the latest members of the board of trustees 
there have been elected at least one Roman Catholic and one Hebrew. 

I also note another point — the supposed difficulty arising from the teaching of 
political economy. No such difficulty has ever been experienced at Cornell Univer- 
sity, for the reason that political economy, not being an exact science, various con- 
troverted questions have been presented by eminent authorities from different points 
of view. Beside this, there has been presented what is known as the "historical 
view;" i. e., that even if political economy be an exact science, it is still a question 
for statesmen to decide as to how far it should be applied under existing conditions 
in any given country at any given time. 

I wish to say distinctly that neither of the questions above referred to have ever 
been found difficult to deal with by our trustees. The board has included men of 
both political parties and of every phase of religious thought, yet neither politics 
nor religion has ever caused, during these thirty years, even a momentary difficulty 
among them. 

I remain, dear sir, very respectfully and truly, yours, 

Andrew D. White. 

Hon. James H. Kyle, 

Chairman of the Senate Committee on a 

National University, Washington, D. C. 

41 



LETTER OF EX-GO V. HOYT, IN REVIEW OF OBJECTIONS OFFERED 
BY OFFICERS OF THE "AMERICAN UNIVERSITY." 



No. 4 Iowa Circle, 
Washington, D. C, February 22, 1896. 

Dear Sir: While tte friends of a national post-graduate university have met 
with some surprises during the progress of their labors, the one of yesterday, at the 
hearing accorded hy your committee to representatives of a denominational institu- 
tion now springing up in the District of Columbia, surpassed them all. 

It was perhaps not unnatural that a few of the older and more powerful institu- 
tions for higher education, with very considerable endowments, with able faculties 
and large bodies of students, with beginnings of post-graduate work in some depart- 
ments, and hence with no little pride of honorable rank in the educational world, 
should at first see only the promise of a formidable rival instead of the friendly 
supplementer and co-worker which lies in the plans of those who would promote the 
establishment of a university of the United States. But that any representative of 
an enterprise at once strictly sectarian, and entered upon so long since even the more 
recent beginning of efforts for a national university of the highest rank should have 
felt justified in making an assault upon the movement is strange indeed. Stranger 
still when that assault is made in the name of religion, not of learning, and in terms 
which clearly show that the real motive is not even religious, but denominational at 
the very best. I say "at the very best" because I refuse to believe that the great 
religious organization thus seemingly represented is indeed responsible for this 
attack. It is too practically wise and patriotic a body to approve of what has been 
done in this matter. Indeed, the leading assailant, when questioned, was forced to 
admit that he spoke for himself alone, though afterwards claim was made that he 
represented "the adverse sentiment generally." 

What, now, are the points made at the hearing in question! Let us briefly exam- 
ine them in the order of presentation. 

The chief opposer's first argument was to this effect, namely : There can be no uni- 
versity without a school of theology. A national university, which must be impar- 
tial, could not teach theology without teaching all the religious faiths, which would 
be impossible. Therefore, it could never become a university — an institution embrac- 
ing the whole circle of the sciences, arts, and letters. 

It seems not to have occurred to this reverend advocate that so much of theology 
as is dearest to him is a matter of belief only, and hence not of science at all; or 
that if some religious belief must be taught in order to constitute a university, the 
institution which he proposes as a substitute for the National University would find 
itself about as badly off, since in the estimation of all the other 142 religious denom- 
inations in the United States, the educational organization which he represents 
would be but the one hundred and forty-third part of a university, according to his 
own theory. 

On the other hand, our ecclesiastical opposer does not seem to have had in mind 
that the greater part of what is taught in a theological course may be as properly 
taught in the National University as in his own; nor that we are now neither in for- 
eign lands nor in the dark ages, where and when theology led the way, but in the 
midst of very different conditions, and living under a Government which left the 
church responsible for its own affairs. Possibly it has not occurred to him that, 
with the University of the United States at the National Capital, there will still be 
42 



UNIVERSITY OP THE UNITED STATES. 43 

room for as many purely theological schools as the 143 denominations are likely to 
find the means to set up ; each of them sustaining friendly relations with the great 
central university and drawing freely from its fountains of pure learning. Nor, 
last of allj does it seem to have entered the bishop's mind that, with the rapid 
enlargement of the vast field of human knowledge which the whole world accepts, 
there has gradually come a new conception of things, and such revision of terms 
that the mere beliefs of the multitudinous sects are no longer of necessity constituent 
parts of a true university. 

2. This same objector inquires, "How could you teach political economy in a 
national university? " 

What a question! In the first place, what better means of teaching political 
economy would his own denominational university possess? Would it teach one or 
both sides of the party questions? If but one side, then he is his own accuser; and 
if both or all sides, why could not the national university do the same? Does he 
seriously doubt that the National University would have all the conflicting econo- 
mies taught, and by representative men of such acknowledged competency as would 
satisfy all demands ? Political economy is taught in the undergraduate courses of 
all our higher institutions, so that graduates would come to the National University 
already familiar with the general principles, though ofttimes with a bias, one way 
or the other, because of the narrowness and unfairness of a professor who could not 
honorably state the whole argument, pro and con. At the National University they 
would hear both or all sides, and thus be competent to reach a just conclusion. This 
objection, like the other, does little credit to the information of the opposer, who 
ought to know what is already done in this regard at leading institutions, American 
and foreign. 

Touching this whole matter the pending bill distinctly provides that "in all the 
operations of the university neither sectarian nor partisan preferences shall be 
allowed." Does our objector's charter guarantee as much? Does he not practically 
admit that his own proposed institution is to be one-sided in this regard? 

The other objections, concerning modern history, etc., are not deserving of con- 
futation. 

3. Next it was urged that the non-denominational universities are not extraor- 
dinary successes, and in terms which made it very apparent that the reverend 
objector is not in sympathy with the public-school system of the country, of which 
so many of said universities constitute a part, and that he would have the American 
people go back to the good old times when the ambitious lover of learning must 
choose his creed and pay, or starve. 

The assertions as to this matter are not sustained by the facts. Many of the State 
institutions are so new that it is unfair to compare them with those whose begin- 
nings go back one or two hundred years. But, regardless of this point, it is beyond 
question that several of these State and other non-denominational universities are at 
this very hour leading the ancients in most important matters, while yet others are 
rapidly moving to the front. The statement that the present tendency is rather 
toward denominational control is not true. Nor is the specific statement concerning 
Cornell University, to the efi'ect that it had been necessary to change its charter, 
giving to the evangelical churches a majority control, correct. It is flatly denied in 
every particular by ex-president Andrew D. White, who drafted the charter and has 
been familiar with the institution from its very foundation. 

As a matter of fact, everything like intensity of denominationalism is on the wane 
among the greater institutions. Men everywhere are broadened and liberalized by 
the higher studies. To effect this very thing is one great office of the higher education. 

The friends of the coming National University have nothing to say against the 
denominational institutions. Not a few of them bravely, and with sacrifices to be 
ever gratefully remembered, met as they could the intellectual cravings of our youth 
in the times ere there came any just recognition of the obligations resting upon the 
State and National governments to create and perfect a series of public schools 



44 UNIVERSITY OP THE UNITED STATES. 

from lowest to the hiigliest possible — a series that should be worthy the high title 
of American system of public education — and to throw around that system every 
possible safeguard, as though it were the very cradle of liberty. Let the denomi- 
national schools flourish. They meet a demand that will continue. We lay not one 
straw in their way. Nay, as said before, by the founding of the National University 
there will be secured to them, as to all our educational institutions, a needed service 
such as no other instrumentality could offer. 

As touching the claims of this denominational opposer, we simply urge that, since 
only a portion of the 70,000,000 of Americans are of his j)articular faith, it is illiberal, 
unpatriotic, and absurd for him, as the self-appointed champion of an incipient sec- 
tarian institution, intended, as shown by its charter, for but a new university of the 
ordinary type, to claim the whole remaining ground, to the total exclusion of such 
an one as George Washington and other founders of the Government originated and 
outlined; as eight other presidents of the United States have favored; as so many 
of our most eminent citizens have at various periods most earnestly advocated ; as 
chiefs of the great body of the higher institutions have strongly recommended and 
are now recommending; as is warmly urged by State superintendents of public 
instruction in every State of the Union ; as is heartily approved by leading scholars, 
scientists, and statesmen of the whole country. 

We further say to this ecclesiastical objector that the National University is not 
intended for undergraduate youth at all, but for graduate students who shall have 
already passed through the courses of moral training supplied by the religious agen- 
cies of the country, and are prepared in their manlier years to enter upon those 
studies which lead into special fields of intellectual activity. 

4. Last of all, this distinguished champion of a denominational institution, under 
an "American " name, made an end to his series of misconceptions and misrepresenta- 
tions with an attempt to weaken the patriotic sentiment which rightfully attaches 
to the national universitj^ proposition, by saying of Washington, "He spoke only of 
an institution for instruction in political science. He did not mean such a univer- 
sity as is set forth in this bill; not at all." 

To show how strangely this bold declaration before the Senate committee misrep- 
resents the facts in the case, I have but to quote from Washington's letters, as follows : 

(1) From his letter of December 15, 1794, to Edmond Randolph, Secretary of State : 

"For the reasons mentioned to you the other day, namely, the Virginia assembly 
being in session, and a plan being on foot for establishing a seminary of learning 
upon an extensive scale in the Federal city, it woiild oblige me if you and Mr. Madi- 
son would endeavor to mature the measures which will be proper for me to pursue in 
order to bring my designs into view as soon as you can make it convenient to your- 



(2) From his letter of March 15, 1795, to Thomas Jefferson : 

"And, lastly, as the seminary is contemplated for the completion of education and 
study of the sciences, not for boys in their rudiments, it will afford the students an 
opportunity of attending the debates in Congress, and thereby becoming more lib- 
erally and better acquainted with the principles of law and government." 

(3) From his letter of March 16, 1795, to Governor Brooke, of Virginia : 

" Presuming it to be more agreeable to the general assembly of Virginia that the 
shares in the James River Company should be assessed for a similar object in some 
part of that State, I intend to allot them for a seminary to be erected at such place 
as they shall deem most proper. I am disposed to believe that a seminary of learn- 
ing upon an enlarged plan, but yet not coming up to the full idea of a university, is 
an institution to be preferred for the position which is to be chosen. The students 
who wish to pursue the whole range of science may pass w*t'h advantage from the 
seminary to the university, and the former, by a due relation, may be rendered coop- 
erative with the latter." 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 45 

(4) From his letter of September 1, 1796, to Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of 
the Treasury : 

"I mean education generally, as one of the surest means of enlightening and giving 
just views of thinking to our citizens, but particularly the establishment of a uni- 
versity, where the youth of all parts of the United States might receive the polish of 
erudition in the arts, sciences, and belles-lettres, and where those who were disposed 
to run a political course might not only be instructed in the theory and principles, 
but (this seminary being at the seat of the General Government where the Legisla- 
ture would be in session half the year, and the intersts and politics of the nation 
would be discussed) would lay the surest foundation for the practical part also." 

(5) From his annual message of December 7, 1796: 

" The assembly to which I address myself is too enlightened not to be fully sensi- 
ble how much a flourishing state of the arts and sciences contributes to material pros- 
perity and reputation. True it is that our country, much to its honor, contains 
many seminaries of learning highly respectable and useful; but the funds upon 
which they rest are too narrow to command the ablest professors, in the different 
departments of liberal knowledge, for the institution contemplated, though they 
would be excellent auxiliaries." 

It is everywhere manifest in Washington's correspondence and conversations on 
this subject that his far-reaching mind and patriotic heart were full of a demand 
for exactly the kind of an institution which, in honor of his name, for the cause of 
learning, and for the sacred cause of country, not only we at this distance in time 
have planned, but which such patriots as Dr. Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, and a leading scientist of his time, had in mind when, in his 
appeals to the country in support of the national university proposition, in 1788, he 
said : 

"To eifect this great and necessary work let one of the first acts of the new Con- 
gress be to establish within the district to be allotted for them a Federal university, 
into which the youth of the United States shall be received after they have finished 
their studies and taken degrees in the colleges of their respective States." 

5. The vice chancellor of the new denominational university was hardly more 
fortunate than his predecessor in the discussion. 

Passing without comment his reference to the "question of constitutional right," 
brief notice may be taken of his question of "the moral right to take the money of 
the many and spend it for the superior educational advantage of the few." 

Strange questions these from such a representative ! Yes, it is the moral right — 
and the moral as well as the patriotic duty — of the Government of this Republic to 
do whatsoever is necessary to the highest possible culture, on American soil and in 
friendly intercourse from every section, of those to whom in large part are to be 
committed the destinies of our country; the security of our free institutions; the 
national development in every field of worthy enterprise ; our dignity as a nation, 
honorably and liberally providing for its own; our proper place in the very front 
rank of an advancing civilization. 

Some 3,000 American graduates are to-day seeking abroad the post-graduate facili- 
ties which they can not find at home ; and, secretly, some of those who oppose this 
university movement are pleading for yet other favors of that sort in the universities 
of France. 

Presidents Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, John Quincy 
Adams, Jackson, Grant, and Hayes were moved by an honorable craving to be free 
from dependence on foreign powers in all these high regards, and hence officially 
favored the founding of a national university. The claim by them made is still 
urged, and with increasing earnestness by a multitude of the foremost of American 
citizens. 

But for reasons not far to seek, this talk of the constitutional and moral right to 



46 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

do a Himilar thing to that which has been clone for the whole series of public schools, 
from the primary school to the State university, would be incomprehensible. It is 
only matched by that in which, with the Senate university bill in his hand, this sec- 
ond reverend objector declared that "the institution proposed by this bill will not 
really supplement the other schools of the country, and does not projiose to do 
anything beyond college work." 

6. And then this same vice-chancellor, in the next moment, expresses anxiety 
about the secular trend of the State and independent institutions, and so is hoping 
to supply the demand for truth and righteousness by building up an intensely sec- 
tarian institution, to the preclusion and everlasting exclusion of a truly national one. 
Does he assume that a State or national university must of necessity be Godless 
unless it be under denominational control? Is not this a Christian nation in a 
broader sense than is represented by any denominationalism ? And does not a spirit 
of reverence, that fundamental element of religion, almost of necessity prevail wher- 
ever there is an earnest seeking after truth? 

7. Finally, the vice-chancellor, in his sympathy for other institutions, including 
especially those which his chief had disparaged, was moved to urge that a strong 
national university would embarrass the universities in the States. 

Why, then, do the managers of such institutions want it? Because they clearly 
see that by establishing such a post-graduate institution at the capital the Govern- 
ment will give a new dignity and value to the higher learning everywhere, and thus 
insure to the other institutions of the country a larger patronage and a more enthusi- 
astic support — that it will help, and not hinder, as said before ; and not alone by 
the increased interest in higher learning which it will surely awaken everywhere, 
but also by its new and unfailing supply of men of highest attainments for instruc- 
tion in their several departments. 

8. The rather presumptuous and elaborate attempt of the zealous trustee, put for- 
ward by the opposing denominational party to weaken the confidence of the Senate 
committee in the constitutional powers of the Government as to this matter, might 
well remain unnoticed (since the arguments offered have been passed upon so many 
times by the ablest of jurists) but for his statement of certain facts in the records 
of the Federal Convention in a form and manner quite evidently intended to make 
it appear that the omission to adopt the proposition of Messrs. Charles Pinckney and 
•James Madison to include in the Constitution the power to establish and provide 
for a National University was on account of opposition to the thing itself sought to 
be made secure. On the contrary, it is clearly manifest, from the only accounts we 
have, that said omission was solely because of the prevailing opinion, (1) that 
nothing not absolutely necessary should be put into the Constitution, and (2) that 
an express provision therein for the proposed university was unnecessary, since "the 
exclusive power at the seat of Government would reach that object." 

The record goes further and shows that, notwithstanding this prevailing opinion, 
five of the twelve delegates who had part in deciding the question voted'to include 
the provision as a means of making the university more sure. It nowhere appears 
that a solitary word was uttered against the desirability of the proposed university. 

9. The novel features of the trustee's discussion were the anti-Catholic argument 
and his plea for sympathy in behalf of the yet infant denominational institution in 
the other quarter of the District. 

To the first it is sufficient to say that it is not the business of the Government of 
the United States to have anything to do with the antagonisms or ambitions of 
religious organizations. It was divorced from the church when it was founded, and 
must leave this whole matter to those directly concerned. 

In answer to the second, I metely call attention to the facts that the effort for a 
national university began more than one hundred years before his own institution 
was thought of; also, that the recent renewal of such efforts by the introduction, of 
Senator Edmund's bill and the formation of the Senate's Select Committee to Estab- 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 47 

lish the University of the United States, on May 14, 1890, considerably antedated, 
the charter, from the District Commissioners, of his institution, on May 28, 1891. If 
these objectors really wanted an American university, Avhy did they not join hands 
with Senator Edmunds and other able friends of such an institution? There was 
not diiference enough between "American," "National," and. "United. States" to 
constitute a bar to any high purpose in so important a matter. 

PerhaiDS I should not disturb the happy dreams wherein a great sectarian school 
was so easily forming itself with the help of a taking misnomer, or embarrass well- 
devised schemes for a raising of funds on the strength of rosy views of an "Amer- 
ican" institution that would more than realize the aspirations of Washington 
while under a two-thirds majority control of a single religious sect ; nor is it pleasant 
to interfere with any man's schemes for large fortunes out of lands on the other side 
of the Potomac. But I will confess to no little surprise at such a showing as these 
men have made, as if it were argument and a fit illustration of superior ethics in 
education ! 

Since the great Catholic Church wants a high university of its own, is frank 
enough to christen it "The Catholic University of America," and is strong enough 
in both means and purpose to build it, let it do so; its right can not be challenged. 
And, in like manner, if any denomination with a contrary faith is ambitious to 
match this undertaking by building up a great institution of its own, it is equally 
its right; and. they who plan and name it will do well to be as frank and courageous 
as the vigorous supporters of a more ancient faith. But for the Nation there is 
demanded a National University, wholly free from either sectarian or partisan bias, 
and for faithful service in the interest of science and learning, of the nation itself, 
of freedom, and of the highest good of mankind. 

John W Hoyt. 

Hon. James H. Kyle, 

Chairman of Senate Committee to JSstahlish 

the University of the United States. 



OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION OF HON. JOHN W. HOYT IN BEHALF OF THE NATIONAL 
UNIVERSITY COMMITTEE OP ONE HUNDRED. 



No. 4 Iowa Circle, 
Washington, I>. C, March —, 1896. 
Sir: Complying with your request for copies of important communications 
received by me in support of the national university proposition since the recent 
beginning of systematic effort in its behalf, and for information as to the character 
of the objections offered by any who may have dissented, I have pleasure in for- 
warding the accompanying files of letters from eminent statesmen, from a great 
number of the presidents of colleges and universities in all parts of the country, 
from State superintendents of public instruction in all the States, from the heads of 
various national organizations, from chiefs of scientific bureaus of the Government, 
and from other distinguished citizens who have manifested a deep interest in the 
university enterprise. 

I also take the liberty of forwarding a list of members of the national committee 
of one hundred to promote the establishment of the university of the United States, 
with the names of those who form its executive council, and a brief outline of the 
arguments made by the few who have offered objections to the university measure, 
together with what are deemed sufficient answers thereto. 
Very respectfully, yours, 

John W. Hoyt, 
Chairman of the National University Committee of One Hundred. 
Hon. James H. Kyle, 

Chairman of Senate Committee to Estahlish the University of the United States. 

49 
S. Kep. 429 4 



EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY 
COMMITTEE OF ONE HUNDRED. 

[A council formed of its own members by tLe national committee for the framing of a bill to be 
offered to Congress and for the more immediate direction of the national-university enterprise.] 

The Honorable Melville W. Fuller, LL. D., Chief Justice of the United States. 

Ex-United States Senator George F. Edmunds, LL. D., of Vermont. 

Ex- President William Pepper, M. D., LL. D., Philadelphia. 

Hon. Andrew D. White, LL. D., ex-president of Cornell University, ex-United 
States minister to Germany and Russia, member of Venezuelan Commission, etc., 
New York. 

Ex-Governor John Lee Carroll, LL. D., general president Society of Sons of the 
Eevolution, Maryland. 

Gen. Horace Porter, LL. D., president-general Society of Sons of the American 
Eevolution, New York. 

Ex-United States Senator Eppa Hunton, LL. D., Virginia. 

Ex-United States Senator A. H. Garland, late Attorney-General of the United 
States, Arkansas. 

Ex-United States Senator J. B. Henderson, Missouri and District of Columbia. 

Col. Wilbur E. Smith, Kentucky University. 

Gen. John Eaton, LL. D., ex- United States Commissioner of Education, etc., New 
Hampshire. 

Hon. Gardiner G. Hubbard, LL. D., president National Geographic Society, Eegent 
of Smithsonian Institution, etc., District of Columbia. 

Simon Newcomb^ LL. D., Director of the Nautical Almanac, District of Columbia. 

Hon. John A. Kasson, ex-United States minister to Austria and ambassador to 
Germany, Iowa. 

Hon. Oscar S. Strauss, ex-United States minister to Turkey, New York. 

G. Brown Goode, LL. D., assistant secretary of Smithsonian Institution, in charge 
of the National Museum. 

Ex-Govenor John W. Hoyt, M. D., LL. D., chairman of National University 
Committees, Washington, D. C. 
50 



MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY COMMITTEE OF ONE 
HUNDRED. 



GENERAL COMMITTEE. 



The Honorable Melville W. Fuller, LL. D., Chief Justice of the United States. 

Lieut. Gen. J. M. Schofield, late Commander in Chief of the Army. 
Maj. Gen. Nelson A. Miles, Commander in Chief of the Army. 
George M. Sternberg, M. D., LL. D., Surgeon-General, U. S. A. 

Ex-United States Senator George F. Edmunds, of Vermont. 

Ex-United States Senator Eppa Hunton, of Virginia. 

Ex-United States Senator A. H. Garland, of Arkansas. 

Ex-United States Senator James E. Doolittle, of Wisconsin. 

Ex-United States Senator Carl Schurz, of New York. 

Ex-United States Senator John J. Ingalls, of Kansas. 

Ex- United States Senator Patrick Walsh, of Georgia. 

Ex-United States Senator W. D. Washburn, of Minnesota. 

Ex-United States Senator Joseph M. Carey, of Wyoming. 

Ex-United States Senator Joseph N. Dolph, of Oregon. 

Ex-United States Senator J. B. Henderson, of Missouri and District of Columbia. 

Hon. Andrew D. White, LL. D., of New York, president of Cornell University, for- 
mer ambassador to Germany, late United States minister to Eussia, etc. 

Hon. John A. Kasson, LL. D., of Iowa, late United States minister to Austria and 
ambassador to Germany. 

Hon. Oscar S. Strauss, of New York, late United States minister to Turkey. 

Hon. Wayne MacVeagh, LL. D., United States ambassador to Italy. 

President B. L. Whitman, D. D., Columbian University, District of Columbia. 
President Daniel C. Gihnan, LL. D., Johns Hopkins University, Maryland. 
William Pepper, M. D., LL. D., former provost. University of Pennsylvania. 
President George W. Atherton, Ph. D., LL. D., Pennsylvania State College. 
President Henry Copp6e, A. M., D. D., Lehigh University, Pennsylvania, 
President Charles De Garmo, Ph. D., Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania. 
Ex-President Edwin H. Magill, LL. D., Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania. 
President A. H. Fetterhoff, LL. D., Girard College, Pennsylvania. 
President H. W. MacKnight, D. D. LL. D., Pennsylvania College. 
President W. P. Johnston, D. D,, Geneva College, Pennsylvania. 
President Isaac Sharpless, Sc. D., LL. D., Haverford College, Pennsylvania. 
President Theophilus B. Eoth, D. D., Thiel College, Pennsylvania. 
President Thomas L. Seip, D. D., Muhlenburg College, Pennsylvania. 
President Ethelbert D. Warfield, LL. D., Lafayette College, Pennsylvania. 
Chancellor W. J. Holland, Ph. D., LL. D., Western University of Pennsylvania. 
President F. L, Patton, D. D., LL. D., Princeton University, New Jersey. 

51 



52 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Chancellor H. M. McCracken, D. D., LL. D., University of tlie City of New York. 

President George William Smith, D. D., Trinity College, Connecticut. 

President T. C. Mendenhall, LL. D., Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massa- 



President Edwin Hewitt Capen, D. D., Tufts College, Massachusetts. 

President E. Benjamin Andrews, LL. D., Brown University, Rhode Island. 

President A. W. Harris, Sc. D., Maine State College. 

President Nathaniel Butler, D. D., Colby University, Maine. 

President Ezra Brainerd, LL. D., Middlebury College, Vermont. 

President J. G. Schurman, Sc. D., LL. D., Cornell University, New York. 

Director R. H. Thurston, Sibley College, Cornell University, New York. 

President David D. Cochran, Polytechnic Institute, New York. 

President John Hudson Peck, LL. D., Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York. 

President Harrison E. Webster, LL. D., Union College, New York. 

President David J. Hill, LL. D., University of Rochester, New York. 

President Arthur E. Main, A. M., D. D., Alfred University, New York. 

President P. B. Reynolds, LL. D., West Virginia University. 

President D. Powell, A. M., Ph. D., West Virginia College. 

President J. C. Rankin, D. D., LL. D., Howard University, District of Columbia. 

President Lyon G. Tyler, Ph. D., William and Mary College, Virginia. 

President H. B. Frissell, D. D., Hampton Institute, Virginia. 

President J. M. McBryde, Ph. D., Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. 

President George T. Winston, LL. D., University of North Carolina. 

President Charles F. Meserve, Ph. D., Shaw University, North Carolina. 

President J. Woodrow, Ph. D., LL. D., South Carolina College. 

President Richard C. Jones, LL. D., University of Alabama. 

President A. S. Andrews, D. D., LL. D., Southern University, Alabama. 

President William Le Roy Brown, Ph. D., Alabama Polytechnic Institute. 

President J. W. Nicholson, LL. D., Louisiana State University. 

Ex-President D. F. Boyd, LL. D., Louisiana State University. 

President Oscar Alewort, LL. D., Straight University, Louisiana, 

President Edward C. Mitchell, LL. D., Leland University, Louisiana. 

Chancellor R. B. Fulton, LL. D., University of Mississippi. 

General Stephen D. Lee, LL. D., president Mississippi State Agricultural College. 

President Charles W. Dabney, Ph. D., LL. D., University of Tennessee. 

Chancellor W. H. Payne, LL. D., University of Nashville, Tennessee. 

President Erastus M. Cravath, D. D., Fisk University, Tennessee. 

President J. Braden, D. D., Central Tennessee College. 

Chancellor Nathan Green, LL. D., Cumberland University, Tennessee. 

Chancellor George W. Sweeney, D. D,, etc., S. W. Presbyterian University, Ten- 



President B. Lawton Wiggins, M. A., etc., University of the South, Tennessee. 

President Charles L. Loos, A. M., LL. D., Kentucky University. 

Col. Wilbur R. Smith, Kentucky University. 

President S. Ryland, D. D., Bethel College, Kentucky. 

Chancellor L. H. Blanton, D. D., Central University, Kentucky. 

President William A. Oberchaine, Ph. D., Ogden College, Kentucky. 

President J. H. Canfield, A. M., LL. D., Ohio State University. 

Ex-President William H. Scott, M. A., LL. D., Ohio State University. 

President Charles V. Thwing, D. D., Western Reserve College, Ohio. 

President W. 0. Thompson, D. D., etc., Miami University, Ohio. 

President L. Bookwalter, LL. D., Western College, Ohio. 

President S. A. Ort, D. D., Wittenberg College, Ohio. 

President Cady Staley, Ph. D., Case School of Applied Science, Ohio. 

President Jesse Johnson, Ph. D., Muskingum College, Ohio. 

President J. A. Peters, A. M., D, D., Heidelberg University, Ohio. 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 53 

President John W. Simpson, LL. D., Marietta College, Ohio. 

President E. V. ZoUars, LL. D., Hiram College, Ohio. 

President Charles W. Super, LL. D., Ohio University. 

President F. Scovel, LL. D., University of Wooster, Ohio. 

President D. T. McClurg, LL, D., Muskingum College, Ohio. 

President W. G. Ballentine, D. D., LL. D., Oberlin College, Ohio. 

President Theodore Sterling, M. D., LL. D., Kenyon College, Ohio. 

President Faye Walker, D. D., Oxford College, Ohio. 

President Daniel Albright Long, D. D., LL. D., Antioch College, Ohio. 

President W. A. Sproull, LL. D., University of Cincinnati, Ohio. 

President James B. Angell, LL. D., University of Michigan. 

President George W. Cairnes, Ph. D., Battle Creek College, Michigan. 

President George F. Mosher, D. D., LL. D., Hillsdale College, Michigan. 

President Joseph Swain, LL. D., Indiana State University, 

President George S. Burroughs, Ph. D., D. D., Wabash College, Indiana. 

President J. H. Smart, LL. D., Purdue University, Indiana. 

President J. J. Mills, A. M., LL. D., Earlham College, Indiana. 

President William R. Harper, LL. D., University of Chicago, Illinois. 

Acting Regent T. J. Burrill, Ph. D., LL. D., University of Illinois. 

President J. H. N. Standish, Ph. D., Lombard University, Illinois. 

President J, B. McMichael, D. D., Monmonth College, Illinois. 

President A. E. Turner, Ph. D., Lincoln College, Illinois. 

President Holmes Dysinger, D. D., Carthage College, Illinois. 

President J. H. Breese, A. M., Ph. D., Northern Illinois College. 

President John M. Coulter, Ph. D,, LL, D., Lake Forest University, Illinois. 

President C. K. Adams, LL. D., University of Wisconsin. 

Ex-President T. C. Chamberlin, late of University of Wisconsin. 

President Arthur Piper, S. T. D., Racine College, Wisconsin. 

President A. T. Ernst, Ph. D., Northwestern University, Wisconsin. 

President Cyrus Northrup, LL. D., University of Minnesota. 

President James W. Strong, LL. D., Carleton College, Minnesota. 

President Charles A. Schaeffer, LL. D., University of Iowa. 

Chancellor J. C. Gilchrist, D, D,, University of the Northwest, Iowa. 

President William M. Beardspear, LL. D., State College, Iowa. 

President W. S. Perry, D. D., Griswold College, Iowa. 

President Ambrose C. Smith, D. D., Parsons College, Iowa. 

President George A. Gates, D. D., Iowa College, Grinnell, Iowa. 

President R. H. Jesse, LL. D., University of Missouri. 

President J. P. Green, LL. D,, William and Jewell College, Missouri, 

President F. H. Snow, Ph. D., LL. D,, University of Kansas, 

President F, W, Colgrove, LL. D., Ottawa University, Kansas, 

President George E, MacLean, LL, D., University of Nebraska. 

President J. M. Mauck, Ph. D., University of South Dakota. 

President William M. Blackburn, D. D., LL. D., Pierre University, South Dakota. 

President Webster Merrifield, Ph. D,, University of North Dakota, 

President James H. Baker, LL, D,, University of Colorado, 

Ex- President Horace M. Hale, LL. D., University of Colorado. 

President William F. Slocum, LL. D., Colorado College. 

President William F. McDowell, LL. D., University of Denver, Colo. 

President J. T. Kingsbury, Ph. D., University of Utah. 

President C. H. Chapman, Ph. D,, University of Oregon, 

President Thomas McClelland, D, D,, Pacific University, Oregon, 

President C, C, Stratton, LL. D,, Portland University, Oregon. 

President Mark W, Harrington, LL. D., University of Washington. 

President Martin Kellogg, LL. D., University of California. 

President David Starr Jordan, LL. D., Leland Stanford University, California. 



54 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Hon. Frank A. Hill, secretary of State board of education, Massachusetts. 

Hon. J. W. Dickinson, ex-secretary of Massachusetts State board of education, 
Massachusetts. 

Hon. Charles E. Skinner, State superintendent of public instruction, New York. 

Hon. Ed. Porter Thompson, State superintendent of public instruction, Kentucky. 

Hon. John E. Kirk, State superintendent of schools, Missouri. 

Hon. L. E. Wolfe, ex-State superintendent of schools, Missouri. 

Hon. Nathan C. Schaeffer, State superintendent of public instruction, Pennsyl- 
vania. 

Hon. Charles D. Hine, State superintendent of education, Connecticut. 

Hon. Thomas P. Stockwell, State commissioner of schools, Ehode Island. 

Hon. E. B. Prettyman, State superintendent of public instruction, Maryland. 

Hon. Virgil A. Lewis, State superintendent of free schools, West Virginia. 

Hon. John E. Massey, State superintendent of public instruction, Virginia. 

Hon. E. T. Bates, State superintendent of public instruction. North Dakota. 

Hon. L. J. Eisenhuth, ex-State superintendent. North Dakota. 

Hon. C. W. Bean, State superintendent of public instruction, Washington. 

Hon. John C. Scarborough, State superintendent of public instruction, North 
Carolina. 

Hon. S. M. Finger, ex-superintendent of public instruction for North Carolina. 

Hon. Frederick Gowing, State superintendent of public instruction. New Hamp- 
shire. 

Hon. Mason S. Stone, State superintendent of education, Vermont. 

Hon. Edwin F. Palmer, ex-State superintendent for Vermont. 

Hon. J. E. Preston, State superintendent of ptiblic education, Mississippi. 

Hon. Cortez Salmon, State superintendent of public instruction. South Dakota. 

Hon. Henry Sabin, State superintendent of public instruction, Iowa. 

Hon. W. W. Pendergast, State superintendent of public instruction, Minnesota. 

Hon. C. C. Tindal, secretary State board of education, Delaware. 

Hon. A. B. Poland, State superintendent of public instruction. New Jersey. 

Hon. Josiah Shinn, ex-State superintendent of public instruction, Arkansas. 

Hon. Samuel T. Black, State superintendent of public instruction, California. 

Hon. J. W. Anderson, ex-State superintendent of public instruction, California. 

Hon. J. M. Carlisle, State superintendent of public education, Texas. 

Hon. Henry E. Pattengill, State superintendent of public instruction, Michigan. 

Hon. Henry Eaab, State superintendent of public instruction, Illinois. 

Hon. E. Stanley, State superintendent of public instruction, Kansas. 

Hon. H. N. Gaines, ex-State superintendent of public instruction, Kansas. 

Hon. A. K. Goudy, State superintendent of public instruction, Nebraska. 

Hon. David M. Geeting, State superintendent of public instruction, Indiana. 

Hon. Hervey D. Vories, ex-superintendent for Indiana. 

Hon. W. W. Stetson, State superintendent of schools, Maine. 

Hon. W. D. Mayfield, State superintendent of education, South Carolina. 

Hon. F. J. Netherton, State superintendent of public instruction, Arizona. 

Hon. S. G. Gilbreath, State superintendent of public instruction, Tennessee. 

Hon. John O. Turner. State superintendent of education, Alabama. 

Hon. T. B. Lewis, Territorial commissioner of schools, Utah. 

Hon. C. A. Foresman, State superintendent of public instruction, Idaho. 

Hon. H. C. Cutting, superintendent of public instruction for Nevada. 

Hon. Amado Chavez, superintendent of public instruction for New Mexico. 

Hon. A. J. Peavey, State superintendent of public instruction, Colorado. 

Hon. E. Eeed, State superintendent of public instruction, Wyoming. 

Hon. G. E. Glenn, State school commissiouer for Georgia. 

Hon. Albert J. Eussel, State superintendent of public instruction, Florida. 

Hon. Zalmon Eichards, late school superintendent, District of Columbia. 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. '55 

Benjamin Apthorp Gould, LL. D., astronomer, Cambridge, Mass. 

Gen. John Eaton, LL. D., for many years United States Commissioner of Educt^tion. 

Hon. Arthur MacArthur, LL. D., ex-justice of the supreme court of D. C. 

Gen. George R. Davis, director-general World's Columbian Exposition. 

Right Rev. William Paret, D. D., LL. D., Protestant Episcopal bishop of Maryland. 

Hon. Frederick T. Greenhalge, governor of Massachusetts. 

Hon. Cephas Brainerd, of New York, chairman American Branch of Committee on 
an International Court of Arbitration. 

Hon. William Wirt Henry, of Virginia. ' 

Gen. James Grant Wilson, New York City. 

William D. Cabell, Ph. D., president Alumni Association University of Virginia. 

Right Rev. Thomas M. Clark, D. D., LL. D., Protestant Episcopal bishop of Rhode 
Island. 

Andrew J. Rickoff, Ph. D., formerly superintendent of education. New York. 

Marshall Field, esq., Chicago. 

Col. William 0. McDowell, chairman Pan-Republic Committee, etc.. New Jersey. 

Mr. Justice C. Strawbridge, Philadelphia. 

John Henry Barrows, D. D., LL. D., president of late World's Congress of Reli- 
gions, Chicago. 

Edward Everett Hale, D. D., LL. D., Massachusetts. 

Right Rev. Ethelbert Talbot, D. D., LL. D., Episcopal bishop of Wyoming and 
Idaho. 

Henry Villard, esq., New York City. 

O. Vincent Coffin, governor of Connecticut. 

President Samuel R. Shipley, Philadelphia. 

Thomas Dolans, esq., Philadelphia. 

N. H. Winchell, Ph. D., State geologist for Minnesota. 

George Dana Boardman, D. D., LL. D., Philadelphia. 

Elmer Gates, Ph. D., Philadelphia. 

Lester F. Ward, LL. D., Washington, D. C. 

Charles Sprague Smith, Ph. D., Columbia College, New York. 

Hon. H. McGraw, governor of Washington. 

Hon. Newton Bateman, LL. D., former State superintendent of public instruction 
for Illinois; also ex-president of Knox College. 

J. M. Gregory, LL. D., former president State University of Illinois. 

Hon. Richard Edwards, LL. D., formerly State superintendent of public instruction 
for Illinois. 

Hon. John E. Jones, governor of Nevada. 

Herbert B. Adams, Ph. D,, of Johns Hopkins, secretary of American Historical 
Association. 

Henry Baldwin, LL. D., custodian of American history. 

William A. Mowry, Ph. D., ex-superintendent of public instruction, late editor of 
Education, etc. 

M. Scheie de Vere, LL. D., late of University of Virginia. 

Hon. Ezra S. Carr, M. D., LL, D., former State superintendent of public instruction 
for California, etc. 

Hon. Eugene A. Smith, Ph. D., State geologist for Alabama. 

Dr. E. P. Powell, Clinton, N. Y. 

Dr. H. von Hoist, Chicago. 

Hon. E. C. Shortridge, governor of South Dakota. 

James Hall, LL. D., State geologist for New York. 

Hon. Z. Richards, Ph. D., late superintendent of schools, District of Columbia. 

Ulysses S. Grant, Ph. D., Geological survey of Minnesota. 

Persifer Frazer, LL. D., late State geologist for Pennsylvania, etc. 

Hon. Louis C. Hughes, governor of Arizona. 



56 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Hon. Frederick W. Smyth, ex-governor of New Hampshire, railroad president, etc. 
Hon. J. E. Richards, governor of Montana. 
Hon. Roger Allin, governor of North Dakota. 

Ex-Governor John Lee Carroll, LL. D., Maryland, general president of the Society of 
the Sons of the Revolution. 

Gen. Horace Porter, LL. D., president-general of the Society of the Sous of tho 
American Revolution. 

Hon. Asa Bird Gardiner, LL. D., secretary-general, Society of the Cincinnati. 

Hon. Gardiner G. Hubbard, LL. D., president National Geographic Society, etc. 

D. G. Brinton, LL. D,, ex-president of the American Association for the Advancement 
of Science. 

Edmund J. James, LL. D., president of the American Academy of Political and 
Social Science. 

H. Randall Waite, Ph. D., president of the American Institute of Civics. 

George F. Barker, LL. D., University of Pennsylvania. 

F. E. Nipher, LL. D., president Academy of Science of St. Louis. 
David L. James, president Cincinnati Society of Natural History. 

Maj. Henry E. Alvord, president American Association of Agricultural Colleges 
and Experiment Stations. 

S. P. Langley, LL. D., secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 

G. Brown Goode, LL. D., assistant secretary, in charge of National Museum. 
Commodore R. L. Phythian, U. S. N., Superintendent of the Naval Observatory. 
Simon Newcomb, LL. D., Director of the Nautical Almanac, 

Gen. W. W. Duffield, LL. D., Superintendent of Coast and Geodetic Survey. 
Charles D. "Walcott, LL. D., Director of the United States Geological Survey. 
Maj. J. W. Powell, LL. D., Director United States Bureau of Ethnology. 
J. S. Billings, M. D., LL. D., late Superintendent of Army Medical Museum. 
Hon. Carroll D. Wright, LL. D., United States Commissioner of Labor. 
Wheelock G. Veazey, LL. D., Interstate Commerce Commissioner. 

Ex-Governor John W. Hoyt, LL. D., chairman of the committee, 4 Iowa circle, Wash- 
ington, D. C, to whom communications may he addressed. 



LETTERS FROM JURISTS, ARMY OFFICERS, AND STATESMEN. 



Washington, D. C, March 14, 1896. 
My Dear Sir: I trust I need not assure you of the deep interest I feel in tlie suc- 
cess of the movement for the establishment of a national university. No one can 
overrate the vital importance of the higher education to the perpetuity of the Eepub- 
lic and the happiness and prosperity of its people, or fail to recognize the ever- 
widening circle of its demands. 

Th3 -wonderful prescience of Washington anticipated what we are beginning to 
realize. It seems to me that the reasons in favor of the foundation of the university, 
substantially in accordance with the plan proposed, are too obvious and weighty to 
to be disregarded. 

Very truly, yours, Melville W. Fuller 

{Chief Justice of the United States). 



[From an address of Chief Justice Fuller, on occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of the 
incorporation of Bowdoin College, 1894.] 

"It was said of Turgot, that he 'was filled with an astonished, awful, oppressive 
sense of the immoral thoughtlessness of men ; of the heedless, hazardous way in 
which they dealt with things of the greatest moment to them; of the immense, 
incalculable misery which is due to this cause;' and although the hundred years 
may have somewhat modified this conclusion, that thoughtlessness still keeps alive 
the seeds of peril. To overcome it is the beneficent mission of that training and 
education which, apart from the acquisition of knowledge, develop character and 
perfect the man. 

It does not follow that the successful actor in affairs need necessarily be the grad- 
uate of a college or university. Washington and Franklin and Lincoln were not 
college men (though each a student according to his opportunities), but Samuel 
Adams and John Adams and Otis and Hamilton and Jay and Jefferson and Madison 
and a host of others — the majority of the framers of the Constitution, and the hun- 
dreds who, through the pulpit and the press, prepared the way for the Eevolu- 
tion — were; and at this juncture nothing is clearer than that in the coming years 
the higher education will play the most efficient part in the preservation of institu- 
tions and in the leadership essential to avert or to control whatever crisis may be 
threatened or arise." 



New York, December 17, 1895. 
Dear Sir : In reply to your note of the 14th instant, I take pleasure in authoriz- 
ing the use of my name as one of the national university committee. 
Yours, very truly, 

J. M. SCIIOFIELD 
(Lieutenant- Genei-al U. S. A.). 
57 



58 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Headquarters op the Army, 

Washington, D. C, January S7, 1S96. 
My Dear Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 
14th instant, and to express my appreciation of your desire that my name shall be 
included in the list of " members of the national committee," organized for the pur- 
pose of establishing a national university. 

I consider it a high privilege to be a member of this committee, and am very 
■willing that my name should be added to the list. 

Very truly, yours, Nelson A. Miles 

{Major-General, U. S. A.). 



War Department, Surgeon-General's Office, 

Washington, D. C, 1896. 
My Dear Sir : I shall be glad to have you add my name to the list of members of 
the national university committee and to do anything in my power to advance the 
interests of the project, which has my full sympathy and approval. Such a univer- 
sity as is proposed could not fail to exercise a powerful influence upon the develop- 
ment and diffusion of knowledge in this country; and the special advantages to be 
derived from locating it in this city are apparent. All this is so well stated in your 
" Memorial," published in 1892, that it seems unnecessary to advance any further 
arguments in favor of the project. 

Very truly, yours, Geo. M. Sternberg 

(Surgeon-General U. S. A.). 



1507 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, Pa., April 20, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Yours of the 10th was duly received, but absence has delayed the 
answer. 

You can use my name as a strong friend of the university scheme, which I hope 
will at some early day be realized. 

Yours, very truly, Geo. F. Edmunds 

(Ex-United States Senator, etc.). 

It is but just to say that this assurance from ex-Senator Edmunds was hardly nec- 
essary in view of — 

(1) His introduction of a bill to establish the university of the United States and 
his causing the creation of a "Select Committee to Establish the University of the 
United States," in 1890. 

(2) His letter of 1892, in these emphatic and impressive words: 

"Aix-les-Bains, France, September 27, 1892. 
"Dear Sir: I am glad that you are still interested in the national university. I 
think it of vast and far-reaching Importance, and that it should be established and 
maintained in line with the fundamental principles of our Government." 

(3) Assurances so well confirmed by his letter of November 13, 1895 : 

"1505 Locust Street, Philadelphia, November 13, 1895. 
"My Dear Sir: I have yours of the 11th instant. I am as deeply interested as 
ever in the university scheme, and much regret that I am able to do so little in 
furtherance of it." 

(4) By his cooperation in the forming of a national university committee of one 
hundred and of an executive council of the same ; his chairmanship of the committee 
of revision which drafted the Hawley bill now pending in the Senate; his argument 
before the House Committee on Education in support of same bill, and his forward- 
ing a copy of these for the consideration of the Senate committee having the bill in 
charge. 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 59 

Hominy Hill, Ark., September 9, 1895. 
Dear Governor : I am glad that you feel the university cause is progressing. To 
my mind it is the most important of all projects or schemes now before our country, 
and I fervently hope it will go on to completion. For one I am ready to contribute 
my best efforts toward it. 

Very truly, yours, A. H. Garland 

(UX'United States Senator and Ex-Attorney-General.), 



In substitution for the several communications from Ex-Senator Eppa Hunton, it 
seems proper to quote from his speech as chairman of the Senate Select Committee 
to Establish the University of the United States, delivered in the Senate on December 
13, 1894, in support of bill S. No. 1708, Fifty-third Congress, last session: 

"It is a fact, not willingly admitted, that European countries, are a long way 
ahead of us in the facilities they furnish for the highest intellectual training. 
France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and England have each spent many millions in money 
to carry to the highest plane their educational institutions. This is an example well 
worthy of imitation. It can not be right that this country, by neglect to provide 
the very best facilities, should compel her sons to seek them in foreign lands. 

" How important to have at least one institution where better equipped teachers 
and professors may be prepared for our colleges and local universities, thus preparing 
them to render a better service to their students, and so on to all the lower rounds. 
In this way the facilities for this higher education will be multiplied and the stand- 
ard be continuously raised. 

''But above all other considerations how important it is to have at least one insti- 
tution with students from every State where the science of government is taught, 
and by whom the knowledge thus acquired may be diffused among the people. The 
questions of tariff and other questions of finance have divided the people of this 
country from the beginning. The people select their Kepresentatives by whom 
these questions are to be decided. In theory, at least, the people settle them. How 
important, then, is it that the people should be helped to understand these great 
questions; and how much light would be shed upon them by sending forth every 
year men of talent, who have devoted their time to the study of these questions, not 
as partisans but as students, anxious to arrive at the very right of the case and 
to determine, without regard to party, what policy should be adopted by our 
Government. 

" How important to settle these and other great questions in such a manner that 
a radical change may not take place with every change in the administration of our 
Government. We know that when great changes in the governmental policy of the 
country are agitated a stagnation of business ensues ; factories are idle, the monetary 
system of the country is deranged, failures multiply, and general distress prevails. 

" It may be that this country will always be divided into parties taking views 
radically different on these great questions. It may be that it is best for the country 
that there shall ever be two great parties, but it is certainly to the public interest 
that these questions shall be finally settled. Who can estimate the value of such a 
settlement if it had been made long ago ? 

" I do not maintain that a great national university, with a department devoted 
especially to the study and teaching of finance, would have secured this. But I do 
maintain that such an institution, where partisan politics are carefully excluded, 
and the exact truth carefully sought without prejudice, would tend more than any 
thing else to enlighten the people and bring them to a harmonious conclusion, which 
would be reflected by their Representatives in both branches of the National Legis- 
lature. 



60 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

" These are some of the reasons that have brought me to the conclusion that a 
national university in this city is one of the necessities of the age. 

"All these distinguished representatives of the best scholarship, scientific culture, 
and statesmanship of the country, in common with the multitude of illustrious men 
of the past who have championed the same great cause, plainly see that, while we 
have already gained a certain acknowledged superiority among the nations by reason 
of the vastness of our material resources and by the general intelligence and invent- 
ive genius of a people living under free institutions, we have not yet reached that 
higher eminence which pertains to the profoundest culture in letters, science, and 
philosophy. And they also see that in order to attain such eminence the Government 
itself should plant and foster, at this national capital, a great and true university, 
so endowed as to enable it to become not only a supreme leader in the work of the 
highest instruction for our own people, but also foremost among the universities of 
the world in the yet grander work of advancing the boundaries of human knowledge. 

" Why, then, should Congress hesitate to adopt a measure so earnestly advocated 
by the foremost of our citizens from the very foundation of the Government? Can 
any reason be given why Congress should not at once enter upon the great work? 

"Will the proposedUniversity of the United States interfere with the colleges and 
so-called ixniversities ? On the contrary, it will tend to increase their prosperity by 
newly kindling a love of learning throughout the land and by adding to the number 
of their students, since only through study in these can they become candidates for 
the honors to be conferred by the coming national university. That such would be 
the result is conclusively demonstrated by the support the proposition has received 
from the eminent heads and professors of so many of our principal colleges and State 
universities. 

"Can not the country spare the money to establish it? Our best men in the begin- 
ning of the Government wanted it established. If it was possible to do this out of 
the poor resources of an infant country, just emerged from the throes of a revolu- 
tionary struggle, what must be said of our abilty to do it now that we have grown 
from three to sixty-five millions of people, and from 13 original States along the 
Atlantic coast to nearly fifty States, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean? 

"Can it be said that there are more pressing demands for our expenditures? 
Surely none are so pressing as this. The best men in all periods of our Government 
have urged this expenditure. The Government has given its aid to all classes of 
education except this by donation of millions of acres of land. It has with a lavish 
hand extended its aid to schools and colleges, and these very schools and colleges are 
now crying aloud for this university in order to complete the circle of education and 
to carry to the highest point the work so well begun by them. 

"Is the location at the National Capital objectionable? Surely not, for the many 
reasons given by eminent men in quotations already made. This of all others is the 
spot, and in my opinion the only spot, where a national university can be constitu- 
tionally established by the Federal Government. Anywhere else in the States the 
constitutional power of Congress would be wanting. Here Congress has the same 
relation to the District of Columbia as the several legislatures have to their respective 
States. It will not be contended that legislatures have no power to establish and 
endow universities in their several States. 

"Section 16 gives to the members of this university well-regulated access to the 
numerous institutions and collections now held by the Government here in Wash- 
ington City, and brings the Bureau heads, whose work is of a sort to justify it, into 
proper advisory and cooperative relations with the heads of corresponding depart- 
ments of the university. 

"What a field of scientific study is here laid before the young man ambitious of 
attainments of the highest order. See what is thus laid before him that he may choose 
in what particular branch of science he may pursue and perfect his studies. They 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 61 

embrace almost every brancli of scientific work, aud are presided over by men already 
familiar with, their respective departments, and who, it may be added, most fully 
realize how great is the loss that results from allowing the opportunities here offered 
to run waste. 

"Examine for yourselves, Senators, the inventory of them: 
In the Treasury Department of the United States — 

The Office of the Coast and Geodetic Survey. 

The Office of the Life-Saving Service. 

The Marine-Hospital Service. 

The Bureau of Statistics. 

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing. 
In the War Department — 

The several military bureaus. 
In the Navy Department — 

The Naval Observatory. 

The Office of the Nautical Almanac. 

The Hydrographic Office. 

The Bureau of Navigation. 

The Bureau of Yards and Docks. 

The Bureau of Ordnance. 

The Bureau of Construction and Kepair. 

The Bureau of Steam Engineering. 

The Museum of Hygiene. 

The Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. 

The Dispensary. 
In the Department of the Interior — 

The Patent Office. 

The Bureau of Education. 

The Office of the Geological Survey. 

The Census Office. 
In the Department of Agriculture — 

The Botanical Division, with the gardens and grounds. 

The Division of Vegetable Pathology. 

The Pomological Division. 

The Microscopical Division. 

The Chemical Division. 

The Ornithological Division, 

The Forestry Division. 

The Entomological Division. 

The Silk Section. 

The Experimental Stations. 

The Office of Statistics. 

The Bureau of Animal Industry. 

The Weather Bureau. 

The Agricultural Museum. 
Of establishments not under departmental control — 

The Smithsonian Institution. 

The National Museum, with its twenty-two departments. 

The Medical Museum. 

The Medical Library. 

The Bureau of Ethnology. 

The Light-House Board. 

The Commission of Fish and Fisheries. 

The Arsenal. 

The Congressional Library. 

The United States Botanic Garden, 



62 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The Zoological Garden (in preparation). 
The Government Printing Office. 
The Soldiers' Home. 
Office of the National Board of Health. 
Government Hospital for the Insane. 
The National Deaf-Mute College. 
Courts, district, circuit, and Supreme. 
* ' What opportunities for the earnest student of science, and how eagerly would 
they be accepted ! 

"It is in the power of no man to properly estimate the benefits bestowed upon our 
country by the multitude of college graduates heretofore distributed to all parts of it 
by the institutions already established — young men who, with the helps thus afforded, 
have become our leading mechanicians, architects, engineers, experts in every field 
of science, teachers, physicians, lawyers, and lawmakers, who have infused into the 
minds of the people a thrist for knowledge, a love of country, and a patriotic desire 
to preserve this Government as the fathers made it. Neither is it in the power of any 
man to estimate the possibilities of such an institution as is now proposed — an insti- 
tution that shall crown and complete the now incomplete system of American educa- 
tion ; that shall become a mighty uplifting force in its influence upon all classes of 
institutions below it ; that shall furnish the facilities for which our aspiring young 
men now visit the Old World by thousands ; that shall draw to us men of genius from 
all other lands, and that shall early become the leading university of the world." 



Chicago, Decernber 9, 1891. 
My Dear Sir : My professional duties will hardly give me time to devote to the 
duties of the committee. To the matter of being named in company with such dis- 
tinguished persons as you have named, I am willing to consent. 
Very sincerely, yours, 

J. R. DOOLITTLE 

(^Ex-United States Senator from Wisconsin). 



Bolton, Lake George, N. Y., September 15, 1892. 
Dear Governor: I have received your kind letter of the 12th instant, and am 
extremely sorry I can not be with you at the meeting in Washington. I wish you 
all success at the university making, and am. 

Sincerely yours, C. SCHURZ 

{Ex-United States Senator from Wisconsin). 



New York, January 6, 1892. 
My Dear Governor : Your kind note of the 3d instant is in my hands. I am 
very glad to hear that the prospects for a strong association are promising. Have 
you any copies of the old bills that you might send me? I should be much obliged 
to you. 

Very truly, yours, C. SCHURZ 

{Ex-United States Senator, etc.). 



New York, December 24, 1894. 
. My Dear Governor : I have read your letter and the accompanying printed paper 
with great interest, and am perfectly willing to join a national university association 
upon the principles indicated on the leaflet, and composed of such men as you men- 
tion in your letter. Whether the present moment is a very propitious one, I do not 
know, but it is probably as good as any other. 

Sincerely, yours, C. ScHURZ 

{Ex- United States Senator, etc.). 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 63 

Atchison, Kans., 1895. 
Dear Governor : Thanks for yours with accompanying documents. My interest 
in the great work is unabated, and I shall be glad to do anything I can at all times 
to help it forward. * * * It is of supreme importance that the university should 
be established now. 

Yours, faithfully, John J. Ingalls 

(Ex- United States Senator, etc). 



Augusta, Ga., April 27, 1895. 
Dear Sir: I take pleasure in sending you an order on the superintendent of the 
Senate for documents as requested in yours of the 3d. 

I am in favor of the proposition to establish a national university at Washington, 
and you can refer to me as one of the friends of the movement. 
Yours, very respectfully, 

Patrick Walsh 
{Ex- United States Senator, etc). 



United States Senate, 
Washington, D. C, January 21, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : I have yours of the 14th instant in regard to the bill to establish a 
national university, and I assure you it will give me pleasure to cooperate with the 
friends of the measure in every way I can. 

Yours, truly, (The late) James F. Wilson 

{As Ex-United States Senator from loiva). 



Washington, D. C, March 17, 1896. 
Dear Sir : You will please be assured of my deep and abiding interest in the 
proposition to found a national post-graduate university at Washington, wherein so 
large a degree the material and forces are already present, as if waiting to be 
organized. 

Such an institution would not only meet the demand so forcibly urged by eminent 
scholars and statesmen, past and present, as a means of meeting our present defi- 
ciencies and of securing to our country its proper rank among the most cultivated 
of all the great nations, it would also fulfill those high offices of which Washington 
and a long line of his illustrious successors thought so much, in the way of harmonizing 
our national life, and of essentially adding to the security of our free institutions. 

It would seem that the founding of the proposed University of the United States 
should not be longer delayed, and that this one-hundredth year since Washington's 
last appeal to Congress in this same behalf, and of his designation of lands for its 
use, may be deemed a most fitting time for a beginning of this great work. 
I remain, my dear sir, very respectfully, yours, 

J. B. Henderson 
{Ex-United States Senator from Missouri, etc.). 



Cheyenne, Wyo., November 16, 1895. 

My Dear Sir : I am heartily in favor of the establishment of the great national 
university in the city of Washington, if it can be kept free from politics and political 
control. I have no doubt that a plan will be formulated that will avoid these diffi- 
culties. 

The United States is directly interested in many of the educational establishments 
in the United States ; especially is this the case in the institutions devoted to agri- 
cultural branches and scientific investigations. 



64 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

I wish those who have the matter directly in hand every success in their endeavors 
to bring about at au early day a great national institution that will be in its scope 
of work a credit to the people of the United States. 

Yours, very truly, Joseph M. Carey 

{Ex-United States Senator, etc.). 



The Union League Club, 
New York, December 24, 1894. 

Mv Dear Governor: Pardon delay in answering your two letters, caused by 
especial pressure of business. 

You have set forth the claims and advantages of a university at Washington 
admirably, and in so doing have rendered a great public service. What I lately said 
in the Forum, I say again : 

"Our country has already not far short of 400 colleges and universities, more or 
less worthy of those names, besides a vast number of high schools and academies 
quite as worthy to be called colleges and universities as many which bear those titles. 
But the system embracing all these has by no means reached its final form. Proba- 
bly in its more complete development the stronger institutions, to the number of 20 
or 30, will, within a generation or two, become universities in the true sense of the 
word, restricting themselves to university work, beginning, perhaps, at the studies 
now usually undertaken in the junior year of our colleges, and carrying them on 
through the senior year, with two or three years of special or professional work 
afterwards. 

"The best of the others will probably accept their mission as colleges in the true 
sense of the word, beginning the course two years earlier than at present and con- 
tinuing it to what is now the junior year. Thus they will do a work intermediate 
between the general school system of the country and the universities, a work which 
can be properly called collegiate, a work the need of which is now sorely felt, and 
which is most useful and honorable. Such an organization will give us as good a 
system as the world has ever seen, probably the best system. 

"Every man who has thought to much purpose upon this mass of institutions 
devoted to advanced instruction must feel that it is just now far more important to 
strengthen those we have than to make any immediate additions to their number. 
How can this best be done? My answer is that this and a multitude of other needs 
of the country can be best met by the foundation of a university in the city of 
Washington." 

The great thing is to get the institution established in whatever way will secure 
the approval of the country. 

With renewed thanks, 1 remain, 

Very truly, yours, Ahdrew D. White. 

{Ex-United States Minister to Germany and to Russia, 

Member of the Venezuelan Commission, etc.). 



Washington, October 2, 1895. 
Dear Sir: Your communication of August 31 and accompanying papers were 
received on my recent return from Europe, and have been read with great interest. 
The establishment of a national university in this District, for the purposcf .ndi- 
cated by President Washington, and for the further objects required by the won- 
derful progress of science and art in our own times, has long been most earnestly 
desired by me. 

It is hardly necessary, therefore, for me to assure you further that I may be counted 
among the friends of the proposition, leaving the defined plan for further consideration. 
I am, sir, very respectfully, yours, 

John A. Kasson 
{Ex-Member of Congress from Iowa, 
Ex-United States Minister to Austria and to Germany, etc.). 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 65 

New York City, January 15, 1896. 
Dear Sir : Your letter of 14tli instant received. I note witli pleasure the progress 
making with the national university bill. Without promising positively to attend 
in Washington on the 23d instant betvs^een 10 and 12 o'clock a. m., I vrill endeavor to 
come if I can manage to leave my affairs here, vs^hich require attention during these 
uncertain times. 

Very truly, yours, Oscar S. Strauss 

{Late United States Minister to Turkey). 



DOUGHOREGAN, Md., August 19, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : I duly received some days ago the papers you were good enough 
to send me relating to the establishment of a national university in Washington, I 
also received your letter asking me, as an ofScial of the Society of the Sons of the 
Revolution, to sanction the use of my name as one of the committee of one hundred 
who indorse the ' ' national university measure," etc. I have not given much thought 
to the subject, but am one of those who believe that we can never do too much in the 
way of universities and colleges for the education and accomplishment of our people. 
I am therefore frank to say to you that you are entirely welcome to the use of my 
name if it can be of any service to your cause. 

I am, respectfully, etc., John Lee Carroll 

{General President Sons of the Bevolution). 



New York, October 24, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I received your letter and have read with very much interest what you 
say in regard to the national university enterprise. I think the plan that you outline 
is a very good one. 

Wishing you every success in the work to which you have given so much of your 
time and energy, I am. 

Yours, truly, Horace Porter 

{President- General Sons of American Bevolution). 



New York, Novemher.26, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I have just returned home to find your letters, and note what you say in 
regard to the meeting on Saturday, the 30th instant. I should be very glad to attend 
if I could, and would not allow anything but an imperative previous engagement to 
prevent my being with you. * * « Wishing you every success, and assuring you 
that I regret more than I can express having to absent myself from your meeting, I am, 
Yours, truly, 

Horace Porter 
{President-General Sons of American Bevolution). 



Embassy of the United States, 

Bome, October 5, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : I beg to acknowledge your favor of August 31, with its accom- 
panying documents, and to say that I warmly sympathize with the efforts to estab- 
lish a post-graduate university of the highest possible standard at Washington. 
, It is a noble work in which you are engaged, and I wish you every success in it. 
' When my mission here is ended, and I find I can in any way lend a helping hand, 
I will be glad to do so. 

Sincerely, yours, Wayne MacVeagh 

{Ambassador to Italy). 

, S. Rep. 429 5 



LETTERS FROM COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS. 

[Alphabetically arranged by States.] 



President's Office, University of Alabama, 

University, Ala., November 5, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Your communication of recent date in reference to the establishment 
at Washington of a national post-graduate university is received. No greater stimu- 
lus could be given to the cause of higher education in the United States than the 
establishment of such an institution. I am heartily in favor of it. 
Yours, truly, 

Richard C. Jones, 
President University of A labama. 



Alabama Polytechnic Institute, A. & M. College, 

Auburn, Ala., October 26, 1894. 
Dear Sir: The subject is one in which for years I have been interested and 
strongly approved, provided it could be made free from political influences. I 
would be glad to receive the Memorial, etc., now, and will with pleasure write you 
my views. 

Yours, respectfully, Wm. Le Roy Broun {President). 



Alabama Polytechnic Institute, A. & M. College, 

Auburn, Ala., December 29, 1894. 

Dear Sir : My interest, which has existed for years, in the proposed University 
of the United States, designed for graduate students and for those prepared to enter 
upon post-graduate courses of study, has been recently increased by a careful read- 
ing of the speeches of Senators Hunton and Vilas, and my hopes are now renewed 
that the university, so liberal in its conception and so far reaching in its possibili- 
ties, will in the near future be established. 

In fact, the material the most valuable for the university already exists in the 
numerous institutions and collections, embracing varied branches of scientific work, 
now held by the Government at Washington City, as in the Congressional Library, 
the Naval Observatory, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Museum, the 
Office of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and in many others. With such facilities 
for investigation and research made accessible to qualified students, under proper 
restrictions and under proper guidance, the university, organized as proposed in the 
bill, would prove of inestimable benefit, not only to America, but to the world at 
large, in the advancement of human knowledge that its existence would promote. 

The subject has been fully presented and the argument made in the memorial and 
addresses referred to, and for the sake of science, of higher education, and expanded 
human learning it is hoped the result will be favorable and the university be 
eetablished. 

Very truly, yoUrs, Wm. Le Roy Broun {President). 

67 



68 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Alabama Polytechnic Institute, A. & M. College, 

Auburn, Ala., April 15, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I beg to acknowledge the receipt of yours of April 10, relating to the 
University of the United States, in which you say the plan is to found a national com- 
mittee of one hundred or more, in order more effectually to promote the interests of 
the university by securing iufluence for the proposed bill to be introduced next ses- 
sion, and asking consent to use my name as a member of said committee. This con- 
sent is cheerfully given, as I heartily approve of the organization of the university 
out of the abundant and splendid material already existing at the national capital, 
and will be glad to cooperate in any way in my power. 
Yours, respectfully, 

Wm. Le Eoy Bi;oun {President). 



Alabama Polytechnic Institute, A. & M. College, 

Auburn, Ala., October 24, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I concur with you in the plan you propose of having an " executive 
council " to take charge of all matters appertaining to the proposed national uni- 
versity, and heartily approve the appointment of the gentlemen named in your letter 
of October 16, or of others accessible to Washington whom you may see proper to 
appoint. 

Wishing you success in this very important movement in behalf of higher educa- 
tion, I am, very respectfully, yours, etc., 

W. Le Roy Broun {President) 



Southern University, 
Greensboro, Ala., February 6, 1894. 
Dear Sir: I am heartily in favor of such an institution. It would, I believe, be 
a blessing to our country and to humanity. It would greatly stimulate higher edu- 
cation in all departments of life. It would tend to widen every species of intelli- 
gence and to infuse life and vigor into scientific and professional enterprises. Our 
own country and all the interests of our common humanity would be promoted and. 
fostered by such a university. 

Yours, truly, A. S. Andrews {President). 



Office of the President, 
Leland Stanford Junior University, 

Palo Alto, Gal., October SI, 1894. 

Dear Sir : I am most heartily in favor of the establishment of a genuine national 
university in the city of Washington. Such an institution should not be a school 
for ordinary collegiate instruction, but a place for advanced research in all depart- 
ments of science and liberal learning. The development of research is the essential 
work of the university. To this end the national capital, with its wealth of libra- 
ries and museums, offers advantages never to be found elsewhere in our country. 
These great advantages have never been in any high degree utilized. They can not 
be utilized except by placing them at the disposal of a body of investigators of 
various grades such as should compose the faculty and student body of a true uni- 
versity. 

Of the multitude of schools called colleges and universities in America only a few 
are properly equipped for even the elementary work of the grade called collegiate. 
Not one is prepared to carry on advanced investigations of the character contemplated 
in the proposed national university. All schools which are capable of really good 
work are now carrying all that the limits of their endowments permit. The estab- 
lishment of a national university would mean the setting of higher standards and 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. '69 

more worthy ideals in all branches of higher education. It could enter into no 
rivalry with existing schools. Even should it do so, no harm wotild be done, for 
every improvement in aim or methods in one institution helps raise the plane of all 
others. A genuine university tends to make higher education respectable. Only 
the narrowest view of ediication would wish to hold students in existing institutions 
by preventing the existence of a better one. 

The most valuable advance which the American people could take to mark the 
beginning of the new century would be the establishment of a national university. 
Very truly, yours, 

David S. Jordan (President). 



Office op the President, 
Leland Stanford Junior University, 

Stanford University, Cal., May 2, 1895. 
Dear Sir: By all means use my name where it will help the cause. Pardon the 
oversight in my former letter. 

Very truly, yours, David T. Jordan, President. 



Office of the President, 
Leland Stanford Junior University, 
Stanford University, Cal., November 22, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I have read over the statement of the bill for the national university as 
reported by the committee. 

Senator Sherman's proposed amendment providing for an income for the present 
of $1,000,000 a year, for ten years, is better than to devote to the university the 
proceeds of the sale of land. In other words, it would seem better for the university 
to know exactly what its resources are. 

The details in general seem to me to be wise, and the matters I have mentioned 
are not criticisms of any great importance. I may say that I wish you all success in 
this enterprise, for the passage of this bill would be the most important and momen- 
tous event in the history of this country since the war. 
Very truly, yours, 

David T. Jordan, President. 



Office of the President, 
Leland Stanford Junior University, 
Stanford University, Cal., December 10, 1895. 
Dear Sir: I am very much pleased with the wording of the bill for the national 
university, and I sincerely hope that it may pass just as it stands. At present no 
amendment occurs to me as desirable. 

Very truly, yours, David T. Jordan, President. 



University op California, 

Berkeley, November 12, 1S94. 
Dear Sir : I have not time at present to argue the matter of the national univer- 
sity which, of course, has its very attractive aspects. » * * if there is to be a 
national university, it should (as you intimate) bear to the existing universities and 
collegiate institutions a relation such as a university bears to the secondary schools. 
That is, it must be above them and far superior to them. * « * 
Yours, truly, 

Martin Kellogg {President) 



70 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Univebsity of Colorado, 

Boulder, Col., December SI, 1894. 
Dear Sir : I "believe a national university under the control of the United States 
Government is sure to be founded in a few years. Such an institution for the high- 
est research would be the logical outcome of our free institutions and our public- 
school system. The elementary school for the district, the high school for the town 
or city, the university for the State, the national university for the country — the 
desirability of this plan of organization is almost too apparent to need argument. 

The safe organization of society depends upon public control of our higher institu- 
tions of learning. In the coming time true progress must mean progress of the 
people as such — not of an exclusive class. 

The national university should offer vast facilities for the profoundest research and 
should not interfere with the present functions of our State universities. 
Very truly, yours, 

James H. Baker {President). 



University of Denver, Chancellor's Eooms, 

University Parle, Colo., January 1, 1895. 
My Dear Friend : I have only a moment in which to say, God bless you in your 
great work. I trust the measure may have abundant support and success. 
Yours, cordially, 

Wm. F. McDowell {Chancellor). 



Colorado College, President's Office, 

Colorado Springs, Colo., December 26, 1894. 
My Dear Sir: I will gladly cooperate in any way I can to help on the movement 
for establishing the University of the United States. 
Sincerely, yours, 

William F. Slocum, Jr. {President). 



Trinity College, 
Hartford, Conn., January 10, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I thank you for the speeches of Senators Hunton and Vilas on the 
establishment of a national university, and, in common with Jhose engaged in edu- 
cational work, I feel much indebted to you for your persistent labors in the cause. 

It seems strange that a Government which has been so lavish of funds in behalf 
of education should have been so long indifferent to providing for the proper 
completion of our educational system. We have prepared for such an institu- 
tion, and we need its corps of professors and students in every branch of public 
service and in every industrial interest ; and it seems hardly to comport with the 
dignity of so powerful and rich a nation to depend so largely upon private benefac- 
tions to provide those exceptional facilities for the highest grade of educational work 
which have been elsewhere recognized as the proper expression of national interest 
in the cause. 
I trust that you will continue your efforts and be successful. 
Faithfully, yours, 

Geo. Williamson Smith {President). 



Trinity College, 
Hartford, Conn., April 15, 1895. 
Dear Sir: I regret that the bill for the establishment of the University of the 
United States failed to pass at the last session of Congress. I hope that the matter 
will be pushed in the next Congress to a successful issue. 
Respectfully, 

Geo. Williamson Smith, President. 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 71 

The University of Chicago, 

Chicago, September 6, 1892. 
My Dear Sir : In reply to your favor of the 2(1 instant, I assure you that you may 
count me as one of the friends of the movement in behalf of the national university. 
I have always believed in such an institution, and will continue to believe in it. 
There is everything to be gained and nothing to be lost. I have read with much 
interest the summary and contents of your proposed report. I shall read the same 
with great interest. 

I remain, yours, very truly, William R. Harper {President). 



The University of Chicago, 

Chicago, September 4, 1894. 
My Dear Sir: Yours of August 24 has been received. I appreciate your kindness 
in sending me a copy of the Senate committee's report. The question is oue of such 
importance and involves so much that oue can not write with reference to it. I 
should be glad, however, some time while in the East, to talk the matter al] over 
with you. 

Wishing you great success, for I believe firmly in the enterprise, I remain, yours, 
very truly, 

William R. Harper {President). 



The University of Chicago, 

Chicago, January 4, 1895. 

My Dear Sir : Please accept my thanks for your favor of December 20. I rejoice 

with you in the onward movement of the proposition to establish the university of 

the United States. I sincerely hope that an early action of Congress on this bill may 

be secured. Whatever I can do to forward the movement will most gladly be done, 

I remain yours, very truly, William R. Harper {President), 



The University of Chicago, 

Chicago, December 5, 189o, 

My Dear Sir : Your letter of December 2 has been received. I am very much 
interested in its contents. I have read with much care the bill for the establish 
ment of the University of the United States. I feel that there ought to be some 
organic connection between this university and other American institutions which 
deserve the name "university" and that the bill should contain a section which 
would make it possible for professors in other institutions to be detached to give 
instruction in Washington, that the list of universities thus connected in accordance 
with the above suggestion should be worked out very carefully and new universities 
admitted to the list only by the vote of those already in. 

I question the wisdom of having the regents appointed by the concurrent resolu- 
tion of the two Houses of Congress. I can not but believe that this would mean 
more or less political influence. Do you not think so? 

I wish very much that I could spend a little time with you and talk these things 
over, but I do not see how it can be arranged. 

Yours, very truly, William R. Harper {President). 



The University of Chicago, 

Chicago, December 14, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : I have read with interest your letter of December 9, and am sure 
that it is moving along in the right direction. I wish I could be with you in 
Washington for a little while, but it seems to be out of the question. 

Thanking you very heartily for you kindness in keeping me posted, and assuring 
you that I shall be glad to help you in any way, I remain , yours, truly, 

William R. Harper {President). 



72 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The University of ChicagO; 

Chicago, December 19, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : I am very glad to know that the change has been made in the 
plans for the national nniversity of the United States. I hope that the matter may 
he pushed, and assure you that we shall he glad to do all that we can. 
YourS; very truly, 

William R. Harper {President). 



University of Illinois/ 

Champaign, February 12, 1892, 
Dear Sir: I shall be glad to do anything I can toward the founding by the Gov- 
ernment of a great national university at "Washington. You certainly may quote 
me as favorable to the enterprise. ' 

Very truly, yours, Thomas J. Burrill 

{Late Acting Regent). 



Lombard University, 
Galeshurg, III., April 16, 1895. 
Dear Sir: I have only time to say that I am much interested in the project of 
establishing that university. I will do all for its success possible. 
You are at liberty to use my name as you suggest. 
Yours, truly, 

J. V. N. Standish {President). 



Carthage College, 
Carthage, III., April 18, 1895. 
Dear Sir : In reply to your circular letter of 10th instant, concerning the use of 
ray name in connection with the proposed bill for the establishment of the University 
of the United States, will say you herewith have permission to use my name in any 
legitimate way for the furtherance of the project. May success crown your efforts. 
Should I change my address I will notify you. 
Very truly and fraternally, yours. 

Holmes Dysinger {President). 



Lake Forest University, 
LaTce Forest, lit., November 11, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : I have your letter of October 31, in reference to the movement for 
the establishment of a national post-graduate university. If Congress can be induced 
to appropriate sufficient money for such a purpose it will meet the hearty approval 
of all interested in higher education. I imagine that the only reason that could be 
advanced against the movement is the doubt whether Congress would appropriate 
sufficient money to make such a university as would be commensurate with its name. 
Of course such a scheme in general meets my hearty approval, and from the list of 
names you have sent the matter seems to be in the hands of men who will not per- 
mit small ideas to prevail. 

Yours, sincerely, John M. Coulter {President). 



Knox College, 
Galeshm-g, III., December 26, 1891. 
Dear Governor : I shall be greatly pleased to receive a copy of the forthcom- 
ing paper on a national university. It is a matter in which I have taken a lively 
interest for many years, and in furtherance of which I shall be glad to cooperate in 
every available manner. 

I have the honor to remain, very truly, yours, 

Newton Bateman, 

President Knox College. 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 73 

Knox College, 
Galeshurg, III., January 4, 1896 
Mt Dear Sir : I shall be very glad and much honored to have my name added to 
the list recently received. I am in hearty sympathy with the movement. The delay 
in answering has been due to my absence from town. 
Very truly, yours, 

John H. Finley {President). 



Lombard University, 
Galeshurg, III., January 21, 1895. 
Dear Sir : The report of which you speak has been received. 

I am earnestly in favor of the national university. In my judgment it would be 
the crowning glory of our system of education. I have seen many of the educa- 
tional institutions of the Old World, and I verily believe that our national university 
can he made the equal if not the superior of any one of them. Our present educa- 
tional advantages, our wealth, and the spirit of our people demand such an institu- 
tion. Let the youth of the Old World take a few lessons here upon our soil, and let 
our youth know that the best place to complete their education is at home. Give 
us, then, the national university. 

Yours, truly, J. V. N. Standish {President). 



Carthage College, 
Carthage. III., Decemher SI, 1894. 
My Dear Sir : In reply to your favor of December 20, would say that I am heartily 
in favor of the establishment of a national university at Washington to do post- 
graduate work solely. As to details of operation I have not had time enough to 
examine them in order to pronounce judgment. 

Trusting, however, that the object you have in view will be realized, I am truly, 
yours, 

Holmes Dysiniger {President). 



Lincoln University, 
Lincoln, III., Decemler 24, 1894. 
Dear Sir : The plan for the founding of a great national university has my unqual- 
ified indorsement and approval. I should esteem myself happy if by voice or pen I 
could contribute to the tiltimate success of such a magnificent undertaking. Our 
young people would be glad to forego foreign study for the privilege of studying in 
such an institution as the University of the United States. 

It goes without saying that the institution must be in every way worthy of our 
country and her scholarship. 

Very cordially, yours, A. E. Turner {President). 



The University of Indiana, 

Bloomington, November 12, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I should very much like to see a national university of the very high- 
est grade in Washington. It would be a fitting climax to our public-school system. 
Very truly, yours, 

Joseph Swain (Presi<Zew<)- 



Earlham College, 
Richmond, Ind., January 6, 1896. 
My Dear Sir : I have your valued letter of 4th instant. You are at liberty to use 
my name on the list of members of the national university committee. 

Wishing you great and early success in your most worthy enterprise, I am, yours, 
cordially, 

J. J. Mills, President. 



74 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES 

State University of Iowa, 

Iowa City, Iowa, Deceniber 24, 1894. 
My Dear Sir: I owe you an apology for not writing you long since on the subject 
of a national university, concerning which you did me the honor to ask my opinion. 
As to the main question, I am perfectly willing to admit that I was formerly opposed 
to the establishment of such an institution, but I am now firmly of the opinion that 
if we are to take the high stand in education to which we are justly entitled, the 
United States as a nation must establish such an institution. I believe it would 
have a most stimulating influence upon all of the machinery of education, and can 
only hope that the day will quickly come when the national university may be estab- 
lished. The matter has been so thoroughly discussed by others that it does not seem 
worth while for me to go into details, since there is very little that can be added to 
what has already been said. I can, however, assure you of my hearty sympathy 
with the movement, and trust that if I can in any way aid the cause you will call 
upon me for such assistance as I am able to give. 
Very cordially and sincerely, yours, 

Charles A. Schaefper {President). 



State University op Iowa, 
Iowa City, Iowa, April 16, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of April 10, 
and shall be very glad to serve as a member of the committee of one hundred in the 
interest of the national university. I shall be very happy to do all I can to assist 
the movement. 

Very respectfully, yours, Charles A. Schaefper {President). 



State University op Iowa, 

Iowa City, lotva, November 8, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication 
of October 16, and beg to thank you for informing me of the present situation of the 
project for establishing a national university. 

So far as I am concerned, I shall be very glad to do anything in my power to help 
the cause along, and beg that you will consider me at your service if it is possible 
to use me in any way. 

Your plan of establishing a council seems to be a very gt)od one, and I sincerely 
trust that the council will be able to advance the interests of the university during 
the coming session of Congress. 

Very sincerely, yours, Charles A. Schaefper {President). 



Parsons College, 
Fairfield, Iowa, February 23, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I am heartily in favor of a national university at Washington for 
original investigation and post-graduate work, provided it be so organized as to aid 
and not to hamper other institutions for the higher education devoted to under- 
graduate work . / 
Yours, very truly, Ambrose C. Smith {President). 



Western College, 
Toledo, Iowa, April 19, 1895. 
Dear Sir : In reply to yours of recent date, will say that I heartily approve of the 
founding of a University of the United States, and am willing that my name and 
influence be used in such ways as you may see best for the furtherance of this 
important project. 

Very truly, yours, L. Bookwalter {President). 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 75 

Western College, 
Toledo, Iowa, October 29, 1895. 
I Dear Sir : Yours of the 26tli is at hand, and in reply will say that I heartily approve 
of the plan you have outlined, favoring the council and approving of the men named 
to constitute it. 

I shall be glad to aid this movement, and vrill write to our Representative iu rela- 
tion to this important matter. 

Yours, truly, L. Bookwalter {President). 



University op the Northwest, 

Sioux City, loiva, January 30, 1895. 
Dear Sir: I have received the summary of contents of your paper, "A national 
university." I desire to say that I have been friendly to the enterprise of a national 
university, and my sentiment on that question is stronger than it has ever been. A 
national university would be a crown of glory to this great and enlightened nation — 
a nation distinguished for its educational advancement. The termination of all the 
institutions, from the smallest public school to the university, ought to be a national 
university commensurate with our enterprise, our civilization, and our wealth. 
I remain, very truly, yours, 

J. C. Gilchrist {President). 



Iowa College, 
Grinnell, Iowa, January 2, 1895. 
' My Dear Sir : I have examined the printed matter you kindly sent me concern- 
ing the establishment of the University of the United States. Please count me an 
unmodified believer in that institution. After reading the large number of strong 
indorsements which are printed in connection with the speeches of Messrs. Hunton 
and Vilas, I deem it unnecessary for me to add anything by way of argument or 
reason for my own views. 

Sincerely, yours, George A. Gates {President). 



Iowa College, 
Grinnell, Iowa, April 17, 1895. 
My Dear Sir: I shall consider it an honor to be counted among the friends of the 
proposed national-university scheme, to the extent of accepting appointment on 
the committee you name in your letter of April 10. 
Very truly, yours, 

George A. Gates {President). 



The University of Kansas, 

Laivrence, November 7, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : Yours of the 28th ultimo is at hand. Please accept my most hearty 
indorsement of the plan for a great national university at Washington. I trust that 
the National Congress will soon make this university an actuality and place it upon 
a basis which will receive the respect of the educational world. 
Yours, sincerely, 

F. H. Snow, Chancellor. 



Ottawa University, 
Ottawa, Kans., December IS, 1895. 
My Dear Sir: I am in entire sympathy with the effort to establish a national 
university at Washington, and shall be glad to aid in any way possible the 
establishment of such an institution. 

Yours, very truly, F. W. Colegrove {President) 



76 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Washburn College, 
Topeka, Kans., January 1, 1894. 
Dear Sir : Your favor of the 20th ultimo is received. The effort to found and 
huild up a national university at the capital of the nation meets my heartiest 
approval. Educationally, it is the great thing to do. The foundations of large scien- 
tiiic facilities are already laid. Why not unify these constantly enlarging endow- 
ments in name and superstructure? 

YourS; truly, Peter McVicar, President. 



Washburn College, 
TopeTta, Kans., A])ril 25, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Your favor of the 10th was duly received. I regret that I can not 
now accept your kind invitation to become a member of the committee. I believe 
thoroughly in the feasibility and demand in the founding by the Government of a 
national university. 

Have you data showing what the nation has already at Washington as constituent 
departments to form a university ? A statement as to the foundations already laid 
and the resources already secured for such a university, if founded, would throw 
light far and wide and stimulate Congress to action. Have you printed showings of 
such statistics? If so, I would be glad to get them and use them, perhaps, through 
the press in the furtherance of the object. I take it that we have already the ele- 
ments of a great university. 

Yours, very truly, Peter McVicar {President). 



Kentucky University, 

Lexington, Ky., April 20, 1S93. 

Dear Sir : I have received your letter of the 17th instant, and have read it with 
much interest. 

A good while ago I received your memorial and then read it carefully with more 
than ordinary attention. It is a document of unusual force; its arguments.and con- 
clusions struck me with deep conviction. I do not see how any just objection can 
be urged against the noble aim you so earnestly advocate. 

Were it necessary, as it is not, I could go into the particular reasons that support 
so necessary and so grand an enterprise ; your memorial makes all this unnecessary. 

Such an institution as your memorial contemplates we need, and we have not. I 
am fully aware of the doubts and distrusts its establishm'ent by the nation can 
excite ; there is no.great enterprise like this that is free from such misgivings and 
real difficulties. These will have to be looked for and met. Nothing is without its 
weak points. 

The people of this great nation will always need, and want, a host of higher insti- 
tutions of learning — denominational, State, local — and will always create and sus- 
tain them. A national university will not stand in the way of their existence or 
prosperity ; it will not satisfy the want these supply. 
Very respectfully, your friend, 

Chas. Louis Loos {President). 



Kentucky University, 
Lexington, Ky., Octoher 31, 1894. 
Dear Sir: The documents you sent me some weeks ago, I think, in the main, so 
far as I can judge, set forth the right conception of the object in view. 

You are advocating a good cause, which I hope will ere long succeed, I trust in 
the midst of so many other interests just now or at any time engaging the attention 
of Congress, this noble enterprise will not fail of sufficient friends in and out of that 
body to give it the support necessary to carry it to victory. 
As ever, your friend, 

Chas. Louis Loos {President). 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 77 

Kentucky University, 
Lexington, Ky., April 15, 1895. 
Dear Sir: Your letter, of much interest to me, just been received. You have per- 
mission to use my name as you desire. I hope you will be successful in the next 
Congress in pushing this most laudable enterprise through to success. 
As ever, very respectfully, your friend, 

Chas. Louis Loos (President). 



Kentucky University, 

Lexington, Ky., November 1, 1895. 
Dear Sir: Yours of October 21 came duly to hand in my absence. I haA^e looked 
carefully over your plan and can not but approA^e it. 

The nation ought to have such an institution, unbound and unembarrassed by 
denominational limits and control, and the presence of the two denominational uni- 
versities is not in the way of the university proposed. 
As ever, your friend and well-wisher, 

Chas. Louis Loos (President). 



Kentucky University, 
Lexington, Ky., October 17, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : The more I contemplate the grandeur of the national-university 
project, and the great benefit resulting therefrom to our people by its establishment, 
I become the more enthusiastic in the advocacy of it. 

Sincerely, Wilbur R. Smith. 



Kentucky University, 
Lexington, Ky., December 13, 1896. 
My Friend : Your kind letter was receiA^ed a few days since. Secretary Goode 
sent me a copy of the bill as agreed upon by the revisory board, which I think good. 
I would have been glad to see an appropriation of a few million dollars inserted in 
section 12. 

lam quite anxious to hear of Wednesday's meeting. Hope the bill will bo in- 
trusted to a committee in the Senate and House that will be its enthusiastic friends 
and that it may soon he brought to a successful issue. 

Sincerely, yours, AVilbur R. Smith. 



Ogden College, 
Bowling Grreen, Ky., January 5, 1895. 

Dear Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of yours of December 
20, and also of a copy of the speeches of Senators Hunton and Vilas, in regard to 
the establishment by the Government of a national university for post-graduate 
students. 

InansAver I beg leave to say that I have long advocated this project, and that I 
am heartily in favor of the bill now pending in the United States Senate. 

An experience of twenty-three years as an educator enables me to realize fully the 
need in our country of an institution of learning with such equipment and facili- 
ties that students may pursue in it the same lines of original research and obtain 
the same high order of intellectual training as in the best universities of the Old 
World. 

With its extensive libraries, its scientific bureaus, observatories, museums, and 
laboratories, and with all the executive departments of the Government, it seems to 
me that the city of Washington is preeminently the best location we have for a 
great national university. 

Our Government maintains at West Point and Annapolis academies in which 
young men intended for the Army and the Navy are thoroughly trained in all that 



78 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

pertains to the science of war. Why should it not establish and maintain also a 
great university where may be thoroughly studied all that pertains to peace ? 

Grave social and political problems are now confronting us. To deal with them 
successfully we need the ripest scholarship, the deepest investigation, and the purest 
statesmanship. The principles of our Government are, I dare say, the best the 
world has ever known. But their character is such, that the safety of the Govern- 
ment, the preservation of our liberties, and the working out of the great destiny 
before us depend upon the intelligence of the people. 

As a means of increasing this intelligence, I believe the establishment and main 
tenance by the Government of a national university at Washington would yield 
larger and more valuable returns in proportion to the annual amounts expended, and 
conduce more to the general welfare of the peoplie, than anything else the Govern- 
ment could undertake for a like expenditure. As a matter of fact, the resulting 
benefits would transcend the power of measurement by any money standard. 

A great national university like the one proposed would be able to send thoroughly 
trained professors and lecturers to our higher institutions of learning, and these in 
turn would prepare better trained teachers for lower schools, and so onto the lowest, 
until our whole system of education would be vastly improved from the top 
downward. 

Wishing the bill a speedy success, I have the honor to be. 
Very truly, yours, 

Wm. a. Obenchain, 

President Ogden College, 



Ogden College, 
Bowling Green, Ky,, April 15, 1895. 
Dear Sir : In answer to yours of the 10th instant, I am, as you well know, a 
strong advocate of the establishment by the Government of a national university, 
as set forth in Senate bill 1708 of the Fifty-third Congress. Not only, therefore, 
are you at liberty to use my name as requested in your letter of the 10th instant, 
but I shall be glad to do all in my power to further the cause. 
Very truly, yoiirs, 

Wm. a. Obenchain. 



Bethel College, 
Bu8sellville,,Ky., January 1, 1894. 
Dear Sir : I am in receipt of your favor of December 20, 1894, as well as of the 
copy of speeches by Senators Hunton, of Virginia, and Vilas, of Wisconsin, Please 
accept thanks for them. I shall place them in the college library along with other 
valuable papers on education. 

I am heartily in favor of the movement for establishing a national university, 
whatever may be its name. 

(1) Because we shall be most likely in this way to have at least one real univer- 
sity more complete than we have now. I have entertained serious doubts if the 
spirit of denominational conservatism in education is compatible with the true uni- 
versity. I do not mean the sectarian spirit, which, of course, must be eliminated 
from any denominational university, so called ; but that the function of the denomi- 
national school is simply that of mental training and moral discipline under posi- 
tive religious iniiuences, themselves not necessarily sectarian. The university idea 
must be entirely independent of all strictly denominational bias, as much so as the 
professions or trades, which are the special beneficiaries of the university plan. 

(2) The tendency to a uniform standard of scholarship, as preparatory to univer- 
sity work, will be greatly strengthened. It maybe, also, that the standard will be 
elevated, the requirements becoming more severe as the character and necessity of 
the university work become more clearly defined. But both these are very desirable 
results. 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 79 

(3) The hope of a distinctively American scholarship, reputable, solid, influential, 
may very reasonably be found in the establishing of feuch an institution, and this 
certainly is a hope worthy of any patriot. So much the better if it shall be specif- 
ically national and not inferior to that of England, Scotland, or the Continent. It 
seems strange that one has to go to Germany to study English in a really scientific 
way. It would seem, at least, that our students might find the best of reasons for 
staying at home to study their mother tongue, as well as the institutions and sciences 
in which, as citizens of the United States, we find ourselves most interested. 

(4) I must be allowed to add that I find also a hope that in this difference, yet 
to be made clear, between colleges and universities, there will be a manifest destiny 
for colleges, a specific demand for their specific work, as well as for the more 
thorough elementary work in all grades leading to the university. 

"Wishing you the greatest success with your bill, I have the honor to be, 
Yours, respectfully, 

W. S. Eyland, President. 



Louisiana State University and 
Agkicultukal and Mechanical College, 

Baton Bouge, La., April 21, 1S93. 
My Dear Sir : I am in receipt of your favor of the 17th instant, with inclosures 
of memorial in regard to a national university and Senate bill. 

Without entering into details, suffice it to say that in my humble judgment the 
scheme of a national university, as outlined in your memorial, is eminently a move 
in the right direction, and has my unqualified indorsement. I will be pleased to 
serve as a member of the association which has this laudable object in view. 
Very respectfully, 

J. W. Nicholson, President, 



Leland University, 
Neio Orleans, January 7, 1896. 
My Dear Sir : Your note of the 4th instant came duly, asking permission to place 
my name on the list of those who favor the establishment of a national university 
at Washington. Although I do not see how my name can add anything to the illus- 
trious array already presented, yet as I do accord with them in opinion I see no rea- 
son why I should not very cheerfully consent ; and I remain, with esteem. 
Yours, very truly, 

Edwd. C. Mitchell. 



Straight University, 
New Orleans, La., November 13, 1895. 
Dear Sir : In reply to your letter of recent date I take pleasure in saying that I 
am most heartily in favor of a post-graduate university in Washington. 
Yours, sincerely, 

Oscar Atwood, 
• President Straight University. 



The Maine State College, 

Orono, Me., January 20, 1896. 
Dear Sir : Your letter of January 4 has awaited my return to Orono. I shall be 
pleased to have my name added to your committee. What are the chances of suc- 
cess? I shall be pleased to render such assistance as I can. 
Yours, very truly, 

A. W. Harris {President). 



80 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Colby University, Waterville, Me., December 27, t894. 
Dear Sir : Your favor of the 20th is received. I am strongly in favor of a 
national university for graduate work. It seems as if the country owed it to itself 
to establish such an institution upon a scale in keeping with the greatness of our 
national life. 

Ever truly, yours, B. L. Whitman, 

{Notv President of Columbian University, District of Columbia.) 



Indianapolis, November 9, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I regret exceedingly that so long a time has elapsed since the date of 
your communication to me regarding the establishment of a national post-graduate 
university at Washington. In explanation of this delay, I beg to say that I have 
been almost constantly away from home during that time. I hasten now to say that 
I shall be very glad to have you add my name to the list of those who indorse the 
national university measure. 

With sincere regards, I am, faithfully, yours, 

Nathl. Butler, 
President Colby University, Waterville, Me. 



Johns Hopkins University, Office of the President, 

Baltimore, January 4, 1893. 
Dear Sir : I thank you for allowing me to see the draft of the bill for a national 
university, which I return immediately in accordance with your request. * * * 

The bill appears to me to be drawn with great care and to avoid most of the difil- 
culties which are inherent in a project of such magnitude. » * * The real prov- 
ince of the university, as it seems to me, should be to provide special facilities for 
study and work to properly qualified persons, whatever may be their academic stand- 
ing, especially in connection with the great foundations now gathered and likely to 
be increased in the national capital. 

Yours, very truly, D. C. Gilman, 



Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, April 16, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Your note of April 15 reaches me this morning. 

I firmly believe that a national university will be established in Washington, and 
I hope to see it founded upon such principles and with such funds that it will sup- 
port all other agencies for the advancement of superior education. 

Yours, very truly, D. C. GiILMXn, President. 



Tufts College, Mass., November 5, 1895. 
My Dear Sir: It seems to me that Washington affords unusual advantages for a 
great national university, and if such an establishment can be properly sustained it 
will be of incalculable benefit to education, not only in the United States, but 
throughout the world. 

Very truly, yours, E. H. Capen (^Preaid&nt). 



Smith College, Northampton, Mass., October S, 1895. 
Dear Sir : The establishment of a national university at Washington, for reasons 
which have been already stated in the memorial presented to Congress, deserves, in 
my judgment, the cordial support of all who are interested in popular education 
and in the advancement of learning. 

L. Clark Seelye {President). 



Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Mass., March, 1896. 
Dear Sir : I wish you to understand that I am thoroughly interested in the suc- 
cess of this movement, and am desirous of being called upon to assist in every way 
in my power. 

I am, yours, faithfully, T. C. MendeNhall {President). 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 81 

University of Michigan, 

Ann Arlor, November 29, 1894. 
Dear Sir: Washington has large facilities to aid in carrying on the work of a 
genuine university. The libraries, museums, and laboratories, which are in the main 
under the control of the Government, and the large number of learned men employed 
in them, could be made of service in such an institution. 

The purpose to take up Washington's idea of establishing a great national uni- 
versity at our capita], on a plan comparable to that of the German universities, 
appeals to our patriotism and our pride, and must commend itself to many if it can 
be made clear that it will be adequately supported and will be unembarrassed by 
the interference of political partisans. The plan, before adoption, should be care- 
fully matured and thoughtfully guarded against perils by the conference of able 
statesmen and men experienced in university administration. 

Yours, very truly, James B. Angell 

{President University of Michigan). 



University of Michigan, 
Ann Arbor, October 26, 1895. 
My Dear Doctor: Your zeal seems to be unquenchable in spite of all the dis- 
couragements and delays to which you are subjected. In reply to your inquiry of 
October 16, I would say that it seeius to me the plan you suggest is the wisest prac- 
ticable one. The council should be made up of men near enough to Washington to 
get together. It would be useless to attempt to give it weight by putting on men in 
remote parts of the country, who could not meet for consultation. I heartily 
approve of the suggestion. 

Yours, truly, James B. Angell. 



The University of Minnesota, 

Minneapolis, November 2, 1894. 
Dear Sir : I take the first opportunity to acknowledge the receipt of yours of 
October and the memorial in regard to a national university. I need not attempt to 
formulate the reasons why a national university at Washington, supported by the 
General Government for the benefit of the whole country, is desirable. These reasons 
have been clearly stated by others again and again. I can only say that in the inter- 
est of the highest education, it seems to me that such an institution ought to be estab- 
lished at the national capital. It ought to take up work where other universities in 
the country practically leave off'. For this work of original investigation and study 
no place is better than Washington, and no university in the world ought to be bet- 
ter than ours at Washington. 

Very truly, yours, Cyrus Northrop (President). 



The University of Minnesota, 

Minneapolis, April 17, 1895. 
My Dear Sir: I have received your letter of April 10, in which you ask for 
permission to use my name as one of the national committee of one hundred. You 
are at liberty to use my name in the manner suggested, if it shall seem best to you 
to do so. 

Very truly, yours, Cyrus Northrop {President). 



The University of Minnesota, 

Minneapolis, October 22, 1895. 
Dear Sir: Your circular letter of October 15 was received yesterday. I take 
pleasure in saying that a council constituted as you propose would be exceedingly 
helpful to the cause, and that the gentlemen named by you as members of the execu- 
tive council meet my hearty approval. 

Very truly, yours, Cyrus Northrop {President). 

S. Rep. 429 6 



82 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Carleton College, 
Northfleld, Minn., Fehruary 29, 1896. 
My Dear Sir : There is no danger whatsoever of our doing too much for educa- 
tion, but there is great danger that Congress will adopt a narrow or niggardly policy, 
under the plea of a necessary economy, and so fail to provide an institution worthy 
of our opportunities and worthy of our great nation. 
Wishing you abundant success, I remain, 

Very cordially, yours, Jas. W. Strong {President). 



University of Mississippi, 

University, Miss., January 4, 1895. 

Dear Sir : I was away from home last summer and could not then reply to youi 
letter regarding the proposed university of the United States. 

The plan proposed seems to be free from most of the objections that would have 
weight against the general proposition to establish a national university. Undoubt- 
edly such an institution, if so organized and managed as to have its functions 
entirely outside of those of the State and other universities, could be made the grand 
capstone in our educational system. Its establishment would be a fitting monument 
to the wisdom of the founders of our Government who so well recognized the neces- 
sity of education to the preservation of our institutions, as well as to the great 
advances of the closing century. It should be so ordered that its usefulness shall 
evidently depend upon the quality of the work done in its halls and laboratories, 
rather than upon the number of its matriculates. Properly regulated, I see no rea- 
son why it should not prove a stimulus to all the best colleges in the country. Would 
it not be well to ingraft the idea of offering a scholarship to every State university 
and other reputable institutions ? 

I expect to be in Washington next week on educational business and hope to see 
you personally. 

Yours, very truly, E. B. Fulton, Chancellor. 



Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College, 

Agricultural College, Miss., November 8, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I heartily approve of all efforts being made for the establishment of a 
national postgraduate university of the highest character, at the seat of Govern- 
ment in Washington, to furnish facilities for study to students who now have to 
seek such knowledge in Europe. I deem such an institution necessary to complete 
the American system of education. 

Yours, truly, S. D. Lee (President). 



University of the State of Missouri, 

Columiia, April 18, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : I have read with interest your letter of April 10, and I should be 
glad to aid the good cause with the use of my name on the national committee or 
in any other way. 
With kind wishes, I am, 

A^'ery truly, yours, , R. H. Jesse {President). 



University of the State of Missouri. 

Columiia, October 22, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I have read with interest your letter of October 16. Your views in 
reference to the formation of an executive council, consisting of such men as you 
name, seem to me to be wise. If I can help you at any time, I shall be glad to do so. 
With kind wishes, I am, very truly, yours, 

R. H. Jesse {President). 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 83 

Univeksity of the State op Missouri, 

Columiia, October 26, 1894. 

Dear Sir: I received some time ago a copy of your memorial concerning a 
"national university," and I have been intending to write you a letter on the sub- 
ject, but the coveted opportunity for doing so has not yet appeared. 

I am heartily in favor of the establishment of a national university, provided that 
it be built on the right lines and be adequately supported. It should do nothing 
but post-graduate work, and much care should be exercised on this point. It should 
also sustain certain relations to the State universities in the different States. This 
last point I hold to be of much importance. It carries out in education the general 
idea of our system of government. 

The management of the national university should be separated from politics in 
every way. Too great care can not be exercised on this point. Another point of less 
importance, but worth mentioning, is that the management of the university should 
involve but few persons ex officio. But it is impossible to say more now than that 
I am very heartily in favor of establishing a national university separate from poli- 
tics, to be built on proper lines for post-graduate work only, and to be adequately 
supported by the National Government. 

With kind wishes, I am, very truly, yours, 

E. H. Jesse {President). 



William Jewell College, 
Liberty, Mo., December 26, 1894. 
Dear Sir: Your letter came, and also the report and speeches by Senators Hunton 
and Vilas. I had heard something of the effort that was being made to establish in 
Washington the University of the United States. I am greatly in favor of the univer- 
sity. It would offer rare opportunities for post-graduate work. Of course much will 
depend upon the plan, courses of study, etc. 

If the university is not put upon a very high plane of work, it will not meet the 
approval of our best educators. I think that it should be of such a high grade that 
graduates of our other universities and of foreign universities would find it to their 
advantage to pursue a course of study in it. 

But I am sure that the university could be properly organized through consultation 
of our many learned and experienced educators. Let me say again that I favor the 
bin, and hope that we shall have the university before many years pass away. 
Yours, very truly, 

J. P. Greene (President). 



William Jewell College, 

Liberty, Mo., April 18, 1895. 
Dear Sir: Yours of the 10th came in due time. Yes; you may use my name if 
you think that I can be of any service to the " National University." And please 
take the liberty of omitting my name if you think that someone else will do you 
better service in my place. 

Very truly, J. P. Greene {President). 



Nevada State University, 

Reno, Nev., June 27, 1895. 
Dear Sir: I have in hand your letter of April 10, 1895, with inclostare, setting 
forth the advisability of establishing a national university at Washington, D. C, 
and, furthermore, the plans for pressing the matter upon the attention of Congress 
at its next session. 

I concur in the view that a national university, established by the Government, 
would be a fitting keystone to the educational arch made up of the State universi- 



84 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

ties, which have been largely established and strongly promoted by the General 
Government. 
I shall be pleased to cooperate with you in securing the necessary legislation. 
I have the honor to remain, very truly, yours, 

J. E. Stubbs, President. 



University of Nebraska, Executive Office, 

Lincoln, Ocioiet- 23, 1894. 
Dear Sir : I recall receiving and reading with interest the printed matter you sent 
me during the summer, but do not recall any request for an expression of my opinion 
in this matter. 

We are still in the midst of settling the university for the year, and it is a great 
task because of the enormous and unexpected increase in numbers without a corre- 
sponding increase in revenues. It is therefore quite impossible for me to say more 
than that I heartily favor the general plan of a national university for post-graduate 
work. It should stand in exactly the same relations to the great and public free- 
school systems of each State as the State university now occupies with regard to the 
separate State systems. It would give a great stimulus to higher education in every 
direction, and would add a desirable uniformity (by which I do not mean absolute 
identity) to all school work. 
I am sorry I can not say more, but I certainly would not be content to say less. 
Cordially, yours, 

James H. Canfield {Chancellor). 



University of Nebraska, 

Lincoln, November IS, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I am in receipt of your letter of November 4, accompanied by the par- 
tial list of distinguished citizens, etc. For years I have been a believer in th-e desir- 
ability of the establishment of the University of the United States at Washington. 
You may, therefore, add my name to your list. I shall be happy to be kept informed 
of the progress of the agitation and to contribute, if I may, to its success. 
Believe me, very truly, yours, 

George E, MacLean {President). 



President's Rooms, Cornell University, 

Ithaca, N. Y., October 22, 1894. 

Dear Sir : I am heartily in favor of the project of establishing a national university 
at the Federal capital, to be maintained by the Federal Government and controlled 
by a board which it shall appoint. Such an institution would not interfere with or 
rival any existing educational agencies. It would be an institution not for under- 
graduates, but for graduates; an institution not [primarily] for instruction, but for 
the conduct of original research and investigation, and for the expansion of the 
boundaries of human knowledge. 

lueed not dwell upon the vast and valuable equipment which the Federal Gov- 
ernment already possesses for such an institution in the city of Washington. There 
we have $30,000,000 worth of books, specimens, apparatus, and other appliances 
either belonging to the Government or under its control, and the Government is 
spending annually $4,000,000 to maintain and enlarge these collections. The scien- 
tific bureaus ; the Agricultural Bureau, with its meteorological, zoological, and other 
divisions; theNavy Department, with its engineering appliances; the Congressional 
Library, the largest on the continent; the great National Museum; the Smithsonian 
Institution; the various astronomical appliances and equipments— these all only 
await organization to supply the equipment which a university devoted to research 
and investigation absolutely needs. 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 85 

While it will be admitted that we have the facilities, it will be asked whether it 
is our national duty to establish such a university. Replying to this question, I take 
the highest moral ground and assert that it is our duty to minister to our civilization 
and to increase those intellectual and ideal goods which constitute its imperishable 
essence. I am unwilling to say that this great free Republic has no other mission 
than to accumulate wealth and to add to the material comforts and conveniences of 
the race. The glory of a nation is not its wealth or its territory, but rather its 
knowledge and its virtue. Virtue the state can not directly undertake to produce 
or to increase. But knowledge the Republic can increase by organizing facilities 
which already exist in the city of Washington. 

The greatest of our statesmen, from Washington down, have favored the scheme of 
establishing a national university. The Father of his Country left a portion of his 
property as a partial endowment of such an institution ; Jefferson and Madison and 
the two Adamses recommended it. This idea has run through our history from the 
beginning till now ; furthermore, the reasons given by Washington remain substan- 
tially sound, even to this day. He did not, it is true, insist on the duty of a great 
nation to enlarge the stock of existing knowledge and contribute its share to the 
civilization of the race, but he did insist on the importance of the maintenance of 
higher learning among us ; he did feel, with his successors, that if the new Republic 
was to take a prominent place among the nations of the world it could be only by 
"exalted intellect," to use the phrase which occurs in a report made by a committee 
of Congress on this STibject. President Washington pointed out that such a uni- 
versity would also tend to allay sectional feeling and promote a sense of harmony 
and solidarity throughout our great Republic. Though railways and telegraphs 
have been perhajis a more effectual agency in bringing about this end than even the 
establishment of a national university would have been, yet all will admit that the 
presence in a Federal capital of scholars and scientists who are drawn from all parts 
of the country, and are afterwards to be leaders in their own spheres, would have a 
most potent influence in developing this sense of harmony and solidarity on which 
Washington, after the importance of learning, laid the greatest stress. 

Think of the effect o~f such an institution in kindling patriotism and loyalty and 
awakening public spirit among educated men, and through them among all classes 
of the community. I recall the glorious description which Thucydides gives of 
Athens at the time of the Peloponnesian war. He explains why the Athenians 
have shown such spirit, why they are so proud of their country, and are sacrificing 
their lives to support her. Foremost of all the incentives to patriotism he places the 
ideal goods of art and science and literature and philosophy which Greece, and 
Athens especially, had contributed to the world. I hope this Republic of ours, the 
largest the world has yet seen, will some day equal the smallest in its service to 
higher civilization. Animated by this sense of national vocation, I believe most 
heartily in the establishment at Washington, under the auspices and with the sup- 
port of the Federal Government, of a national university devoted, not to the teach- 
ing of undergraduates, but, first, to the guidance of graduates in research and inves- 
tigation, and, secondly, to the enlargement of learning and scholarship, the progress 
of art, science, and philosophy, the elevation of professional and industrial pursuits, 
and, in a word, the promotion of civilization and the best interests of humanity. 
Truly, yours, 

•T. G. SCHURMAN (President). 



Cornell University, 
Ithaca, N. Y., Sejitemher 4, 1894. 
Dear Sir : I am perfectly m accord with you as regards the character of the pro- 
posed University of the United States. It should not come into competition with 
existing institutions ; its aim should be original investigation and the enlargement 
of human knowledge. It should utilize the vast collections at Washington, and it 



86 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

should have fellowship by which men of genius would be enabled to devote all their 
time to investigation and research. 

I could scarcely come to Washington to attend the conference of educators inter- 
ested in the project which you suggest, but if it were held at a time when I hap- 
pened to be there I should certainly desire to attend. 
Very truly, yours, 

J. G. SCHURMAN (President). 



Cornell University, 
Ithaca, N. F., April 16, 1895. 
Dear Sir: I am in receipt of yours of the 10th instant and am much gratified to 
learn that the gentlemen who have had charge of the national university bill are 
enlarging the organization of workers and planning a new campaign for the coming 
year. I believe very strongly in the project of a national university at Washington. 
The resources of the people of the United States concentrated at that one point are 
running shamefully to waste for want of specialists to utilize them in the cause of 
original research and for the enlargement of human knowledge. It is, therefore, 
with peculiar satisfaction that I hail the announcement of your new plans and bid 
you a Godspeed in the work to which you have so loyally devoted yourself, 

I shall consider it an honor to have, as you suggest, my name on the roll with 
those who are working for the national university, and I shall be glad to serve the 
cause whenever it lies in my power. 
Very truly, yours, 

J. G. ScHURMAN {President). 



Cornell University, 
Ithaca, N. Y., December 9, 1895. 

Dear Mr. Hoyt : I am in receipt of your letter and inclosed letter to ex- President 
White, which I have read and forwarded. I have also read the draft of the proposed 
bill to the United States. I think you are right in not making the regulations too 
specific and detailed. The discipline of the university should be in the hands of the 
respective faculties, at the head of which you properly place a dean. When, there- 
fore, it is said in section 5 that the academic council shall be charged with the '' plan- 
ning and direction of instruction and discipline," I take that to mean that the coun- 
cil will prescribe statutes and by-laws, in accordance with which the discipline shall 
be administered by the faculties. If the phrase means more than that, I should con- 
sider the policy a mistaken one. The best judges of the instruction and discipline 
in any faculty are the members of that faculty; and it seems to me of prime impor- 
tance that the advantage of their special expertness in this direction should not be 
lost to the university. 

Section 6 throws the university open to all who are competent to profit by its 
instruction. I think that wise. But I think it ought to be specifically stated that 
elementary instruction would not be given at the university, and that it was, as 
defined in section 4, "purely a post-graduate university of the highest type." 
With best wishes for the good cause, I remain, very sincerely, yours, 

J. G. ScHURMAN {President). 



Elmira College, 
Elmira, N. Y., Noveniber 1, 1894. 
Dear Sir : Replying to your card of recent date, would say that I failed to receive 
anything from you during the month of August. This was due, possibly, to my 
absence from home during the summer. I trust your efforts for the establishment 
of a national university will meet with the success they deserve. 
Cordially yours, 

EuFUs S. Green {President). 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 87 

University op the City of New York, 
University Heights, New York City, November 4, 1895. 
Dear Sir : The third end which you name to he accomplished by a national uni- 
versity, to wit, coordinating and strengthening of the higher schools of our country, 
is so necessary that I shall favor the establishment of a university at Washington, 
if it be given means that will enable it to undertake hopefully the achievement of this 
desirable result. 

The other objects proposed for the university are very worthy, but this point which 
can be attempted from no point so well as from our capital, especially recommends 
itself to my mind. 

Very truly, yours, H. M. MacCracken 

{Chancellor), 



Columbia College, in the City of New York, 

November 8, 1894. 
My Dear Sir ; Your letter of November 6 reached me in due course, and later the 
pamphlet to which you allude. There is undoubtedly very much to be said in favor 
of a national university at Washington. Something, perhaps, would depend upon 
its organization and its relation to other institutions of the higher learning. 
Yours, faithfully, 

Seth Low {President). 



University of Eochester, 

Rochester, N. Y., February 5, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I have carefully examined the documents which you have kindly sent 
me, relating to the Senate bill to establish a university of the United States. Person- 
ally, I am in favor of a national university. I hope if this enterprise is undertaken 
that it will be so generously provided for, both for the beginning and for the whole 
future, that there will be no solicitude regarding its development. If confined 
exclusively to work of the highest character and amply provided for, there is cer- 
tainly room in our country for such an institution as is proposed, but any attempt 
merely to duplicate existing institutions is to be deprecated as a further division of 
patronage and public interest. 

Very respectfully, yours, David J. Hill {President). 



University of Rochester, 

Rochester, N. Y., October 29, 1895. 
Dear Sir: I have just received your personal letter of October 26, and the accom- 
panying documents relating to the proposed national university. I thank you for 
the information as to the progress the enterprise has thus far made. The more I 
have reflected upon it the more deeply I am convinced that the founding of a national 
university at Washington in the near future would have an important and salutary 
influence upon the nation. The merely denominational enterprises can never accom- 
plish the work that is needed, and in my opinion tend rather to interfere with it. 

You have my heartiest sympathy in your strenuous eff'orts to secure the passage of 
an act establishing a national university . I am personally well acquainted with our 
Representative in Congress and with many others throughout the State and country, 
and shall take pleasure in pressing the claims of the enterprise upon them to the 
extent of my ability. Any service that I can render in this or any other direction 
for the promotion of the enterprise will be at your command. 
Very sincerely, yours, 

David J. Hill {President). 



88 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Polytechnic Institute, 

Brooklyn, N. Y., January 6, 1896. 
My Dear Sir : If you deem it of any value, you are authorized to use my name upon 
the committee of one hundred. During the past ten years my absence from all edu- 
cational meetings during the summer has been enforced by the condition of my 
health. In fact, I have not attended an educational convention until this last summer 
since 1882. 

Yours, respectfully, David H. Cochran {President). 



Sibley College, Cornell University, 

Ithaca, N. Y., Deceniber 22, 1894. 
Sir : Your report is received. In reply I would say I am glad to see that you are 
not yet discouraged. I wish that you would consider me as belonging to the list of 
those who would be glad to promote the movement for a national university at Wash- 
ington. 

Can you not have 25 copies sent mef I can use 100 of your memorial of 1892, 
and any other documents of interest. 

Yours, truly, E. H. Thurston {President). 



Sibley College, Cornell University, 

Ithaca, N. Y., February 22, 1895. 

My Dear Friend : I wish to thank you very heartily for your kindness in send- 
ing me those copies of your admirable report on a national university at Washington. 
I found the report intensely interesting and full of just those facts that I wished to 
obtain. I hope that you will lose neither interest nor vigor in your work. It is well 
worthy of the best effort of every man who can take a hand. 

lobtained from our Senators a mail bag full of additional copies, which I distrib- 
uted among friends and acquaintances who, as I think, are likely to be interested in 
so grand a scheme. Great works are not accomplished in a day or a year, and yet 
they do get done. I have not the slightest doubt that, after our legislatures and 
legislators come finally, as they will, to see clearly that their task is the promotion 
of the moral and the physical well-being of the nation, they will turn their atten- 
tion with zeal to this essential element of a nation's education, and then promptly 
do the work. 

I send you a copy of our own paper, containing an abstract of my own presentation 
of this idea, made many years ago. 

Yours, very truly, Eobt. H. Thurston {President). 



Union College, 
Schenectady, N. Y., January 16, 1896. 
Dear Sir : I am in hearty sympathy with the aims of the national university as 
outlined, and cheerfully grant you permission to add my name to the committee. 
Yours, sincerely, 

Andrew W. Eaymond {President). 



Alfred University, 
Alfred, N. Y., Deceniber 23, 1894. 
My Dear Sir : If the proposed national university could be given a rank in all 
respects and in all departments fitting the many circumstances of the case, it would 
be of inestimable value to the cause of higher learning and of great honor to our 
great nation. 

Yours, truly. Arthur E. Main {President). 



XJNIVEESITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 89 

V College of New Jersey, Princeton UNivERSiTy, 

Princeton, N. J., December 30, 1895. 
Dear Sir: I have not hitherto replied to your communication respecting the 
establishment of a national post-graduate university at Washington, because I -was 
unable when I received your letter to give the matter the consideration which it 
deserved, and I did not feel so clear with regard to the wisdom of the undertaking 
as to authorize the use of my name in approval of it. I have, however, paid some 
attention to the matter lately, and as a result I am entirely favorable to the action 
contemplated in the bill just now before Congress, and it gives me great pleasure 
to say that I desire to be counted among those who favor the national university 
ire. 
I am, your obedient servant, Francis L. Patton {President). 



College of New Jersey, 
Princeton, N. J., January 2, 1896. 
My Dear Governor Hoyt : I beg you not to impute to me indifference to the 
matter respecting the University of the United States because I have failed to write 
to you upon the subject. I felt from the beginning that the matter was of such vast 
moment and that it sustained such important relations to our existing scheme of 
university education that I could not express any opinion without giving the mat- 
ter very careful consideration. Since my conversation with Senator Edmunds I feel 
that certain antecedent difficulties which I had felt have been removed, and I accord- 
iiigly wrote you a few days ago aiithorizing the use of my name in connection with 
the proposal. I write this letter in part for the purpose of repeating what I said 
before and also for the purpose of thanking you for your very kind note of December 
30, 1895. 

I am, very truly, yours, Francis L. Patton (President). 



University op North Carolina, 
Chapel Hill, N. C, January 19, 1892. 
Dear Sir : I am in hearty sympathy with the proposed university, having thought 
for many years that our country greatly needs such an institution and that Wash- 
ington City is the proper place for its location. Indeed, I regret it very much that 
Mr. Johns Hopkins did not attach his great university to the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion. The existence of such a university would do more to destroy political corrup- 
tion and to inform our people upon political abuses than any other or all agencies in 
existence. 

Yours, very respectfully, 

Geo. T. Winston, LL. D., President. 



University op North Carolina, 
Chaiiel Rill, N. C, December 5, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Accept my thanks for a copy of the bill for the national university. 
I am much pleased with it. I shall write to Senators and Members from North 
Carolina. 
Please send me one dozen copies as soon as introduced and printed. 
Very truly, 

G. T. Winston, President. 



Shaw University, 
Raleigh, N. C, November 5, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : In reply to your inquiry of the 31st ultimo, I have to inform you 
that I am heartily in favor of a national post-graduate university as outlined in 
your letter. 

Faithfully, yours, Chas. F. Meserve, President. 



90 ""■ UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Shaw University, 
Baleigh, N. C, December 9, 1895. 
My Deak Sir: I have your favor of the 5th instant, and after looking it over 
believe it will he wise to go ahead and try to do something, at least enough to make 
a start. The times, of course, are against us, but, as you say, it is very important 
that a beginning be made. I trust that the attempt will be successful, and if it is 
in my power to be of any service I shall be happy to render that service. 
Faithfully, yours, 

Chap. F. Meserve, President. 



University of North Carolina, 
Chapel Rill, N. C, November SO, 1895. 
Dear Sir: Accept my thanks for circulars and documents sent, which are duly 
received. I am in hearty sympathy with the movement to establish a national 
university, and shall give it such aid as I can. 

Very truly, G. T. Winston, President. 



University of North Dakota, 
University, N. Dak., December SI, 1894. 

Dear Sir : I most heartily favor the establishment of a great national university 
for post-graduate work only, in general accordance with the plan outlined in the bill 
now before the Senate. Such an institution should be adequately endowed, not 
depending upon current appropriations for maintenance, and should be securely 
guarded against political influence. 

To secure this latter provision an ample endowment is all-important. The pro- 
ceeds from the sale of public lands, owing to the practical exhaustion of our public 
arable domain, will be a rapidly diminishing quantity, and I should seriously ques- 
tion whether one-third of the proceeds from the sale of these lands for the next ten 
years will afford an adequate foundation for a great national university. 

This nation is rich enough to endow the proposed institution on a scale which will 
make it easily the foremost university in the world. Such a university as the Senate 
bill proposes, adequately supported, is greatly needed to complete our system of 
public instruction as already provided for in our public schools and State universi- 
ties. I quite approve the suggestion of President Jesse that the proposed university 
should be made to sustain some sort of official relation with the various State uni- 
versities, so that there may be a completely articulated system of public instruction, 
from highest to lowest. 

Very truly, yours, Webster Merripielb, President. 



University of North Dakota, 
University, N. Dak., April 20, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : Your favor of April 10 duly received. You are quite at liberty to name 
me as a member of your proposed committee of one hundred on national university. 
Wishing you abundant success in your commendable enterprise, I am, 
Very truly, yours, 

Webster Merrifield {President). 



Ohio State University, OFiricE of the President, 

Columbus, Ohio, November 8, 1894. 
My Dear Sir : Your letters«and the documents which you kindly sent me have 
been received. I am interested in the object which you propose, but have not been 
able as yet to examine the details of the plan. I hope soon to give it some attention, 
and if it is what I hope, I shall be glad to cooperate to the extent of my ability in 
securing favorable action by Congress. 

Yours, truly, W. H. Scott {President), 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 91 

Ohio State University, 
Columbus, Ohio, Novemler 26, 1894. 
My Dear Sir : It will gwe me pleasure to comply with your request for coopera- 
tion in securing the passage of the bill for the establishment of a national univer- 
sity. Will you kindly send me a copy of the bill? 

One set of the documents that you have already sent me will be placed in the uni- 
versity library, as you suggested. 

Truly, yours, W. H. Scott {President). 



Ohio State University, 

Columbus, Ohio, April 16, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I admire the fidelity and energy with which you have devoted yourself 
to the cause of a national university, and I shall be glad to afford whatever encour- 
agement or assistance may be derived from the use of my name in the way requested 
in your letter of the 10th instant. 

I trust that the next Congress will find time to give careful and, if necessary, pro- 
tracted attention to the subject. 

Very truly, yours, W. H. Scott {President). 



Ohio University, 
Athens, Ohio, January 3, 1894. 
My Dear Sir : In reply to your second letter, I have to say that I do not suppose 
it makes much difference what my personal opinion may be in regard to the proposed 
national university ; still, I should be sorry to be found on the wrong side of a question 
so important in itself. It is an interesting fact to me that it was for this institution 
(here at Athens) that the name ^'American University" was first proposed by Dr. 
Cutler, and that for its maintenance the first Congressional lands were set apart. 
In the last analysis but two things are necessary to make a great school — plenty of 
funds and a competent board of regents as little restricted in their action as possible. 
So far as I see, the proposed bill rests upon this basis. I shall, therefore, be glad to 
see it pass. 

Very truly, yours. Chas. W. Super {President). 



Ohio University, 
Athens, Ohio, April 15, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I may say in brief, in reply to your letter of the 10th instant, that I have 
wondered several times whether the national-university bill had passed the Senate. 
I feared, however, that the brevity of the session was against it. I hope the measure 
may meet with better success when reintroduced next winter. I shall be glad to 
aid to the extent of my ability. 

Very truly, yours, Chas. W. Super {President). 



University of Cincinnati, 
Cincinnati, Ohio, April 16, 1895. 
Dear Sir: You are at liberty to use my name for the object mentioned — to estab- 
lish a national university. I believe in it with all my heart. 
I remain, yours, truly, 

W. O. ^pnovjJL {Late President, etc.). 



Antioch College of Yellow Springs, 

Greene County, Ohio, December S4, 1894. 
Sir : I have carefully examined the report and speeches of the Senators in regard 
to the proposed national university, which was first so wisely suggested by the Father 
of the Republic. 

I am heartily in favor of the university. As this grand and glorious Republic 
now looms up the horizon to the admiration of all the earth, and our public-school 



92 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

system is rapidly being improved, and the true spirit of advanced research is being 
stimulated in hundreds' of schools, colleges, and so-called universities, the people 
will soon demand the leading university in all the world, 
I am, dear sir, 

Daniel Albright Long (President). 

Heidelberg Uni\ ersity, 
Tiffin, Ohio, January 12, 1895. 

Dear Sir : Your letter of recent date, and certain documents, also by your cour- 
tesy, calling my attention to the purpose of founding an institution of learning in 
the city of Washington, D. C, to be known under the title of "The University of 
the United States," have been duly received. I take pleasure in expressing to you 
my gratitude for the privilege thus afforded of examining the report of the select 
committee on this subject, and of reading the speeches of Senators Hunton and 
Vilas indorsing the movement. The subject appeals to my judgment as one which 
should be of momentous interest to all the friends of higher education, and chal- 
lenges my cordial sympathy. I beg leave to assTire you, therefore, of my sincere 
cooperation, so far as my personal influence shall extend. 

The progress of the United States during the past century in civilization, it seems 
to me, demands, as a complement for the broadest culture of our people, an institu- 
tion of this character. Hoping that the counsels of the fathers of the Republic may 
be followed, and that the praiseworthy efforts made by yourself and your colleagues 
in the movement may receive the sympathy and cooperation of all loyal citizens, I 
remain, with personal respect, 

Very truly, yours, J. A. Peters, 

President of Literary Department of Heidelberg University. 



Kenyon College, 
Ganibier, Ohio, Decemher 26, 1894. 
Dear Sir : I most heartily apijrove of a national university on the plan outlined 
in the documents you sent me. It is not intended, as I understand, to rival any of 
the colleges and universities no^ existing, but mainly to organize for purposes of 
instruction and research the unrivaled resources at the disposal of the Government. 
When this has been accomplished, and well under way, I shall expect to see students 
coming from Europe to Washington, just as now our young pien go to Berlin and 
Vienna. 

Very truly, yours, Theo. Sterling {President). 



Kenyon College, 

Gambier, Ohio, April 15, 1895. 
Dear Sir: I very cheerfully give you permission to use my name as one of the 
national committee to promote the establishment of a national university. 
I will gladly do what I can for a university of the right sort. 
Very truly, yours, 

Theo. Sterling, President Kenyon College. 



Western Reserve University, Adelbert College, 

Cleveland, Ohio, December 24, 1894. 
My Dear Sir : I am heartily in favor of the establishment of such a university as 
is proposed. The University of the United States should bear such a relation to 
universities already established as they bear to the colleges. It should have for its 
greatness, not great buildings, but great men. 

T am, sir, with much respect, very truly, yours, 

Charles F. Thwing, 
President of Adelbert College and of Western Reserve University. 



UNIVEKSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 93 

Western Reserve University, Adelbert College, 

Cleveland, Ohio, October 30, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : I think tliat matters are getting into working shape. Your sug- 
gestion, too, for the organization of a council seems to me very wise. I trust that 
in the next session of the next Congress we may find the proper laws duly passed. 
Believe me, with much regard, ever yours, 

Charles F. Thwing {President). 



Wittenberg College, 
Springfield, Ohio, December 11, 1895. 
Sir: Eeplyingto your communication concerning a national university, would say 
that I am in full sympathy with the movement. You may reckon me among its friends. 
Eespectfully, 

S. A. Ort {President). 



Oberlin College, 
Oberlin, Ohio, November 6, 1895. 
Dear Sir: The proposal to establish a national post-graduate university in the 
city of Washington commends itself strongly to my judgment. I shall esteem it an 
honor to be counted among those who favor the measure. 
Very respectfully, yours, 

W. G. Ballantine {President) 



Marietta College, 
Marietta, Ohio, November 7, 1894. 
My Deak Sir: I am glad to learn of the movement for the establishment of a 
post-graduate university to be located at Washington. I can see decided advantages 
in such an institution located in that city. The movement ia one in which I am 
greatly interested and which I should like to see carried out to a successful comple- 
tion. I hope the committee will be strongly supported, and that the efforts may be 
crowned with large success. 

Very truly, yours, John W. Simpson {President). 



Marietta College, 
Marietta, Ohio, April 19, 1895. 
My Dear Sir: I have read with care and interest your letter of April 10, and I 
hardly need to assure you again of my deep interest in the project which you are 
seeking to carry successfully through. I have no objection to your using my name 
as a member of a national committee of one hundred or more, which you wish to 
form. Will you kindly inform me concerning the progress of the measure, and if 
any advice or personal influence can be given at any time you can depend upon my 
cooperation. 
With best wishes for the success of the measure, I am, very truly, yours, 

John W. Simpson {President). 



Hiram College, 
Hiram, Ohio, January 1, 1895. 
Dear Sir: I have read the report of the Senate committee on the University of 
the United States with great interest. The measure has my most hearty and un- 
qualified approval. I believe the time has come when the interests of higher edu- 
cation demand such action as is proposed by this bill. I can not see how any friend 
of education could look upon the measure other than with the highest favor, 
""^ery sincerely, 

E. V. Zollars {President). 



94 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Muskingum College, 
Nexo Concord, Ohio, January 12, 1895. 
Dear Sir : In answer to yonr circular letter of Decenaber ^0, 1894, I will say that 
I am heartily in favor of a national university which shall be strictly post-graduate 
and which shall not be manned with an intended hostility to the Christian religion. 
Our country is growing to that period in its life when it naturally should establish 
such a national institution. 

Yours, very truly, Jesse Johnson {President). 



Case School of Applied Science, 

Cleveland, Ohio, December ^8, 1894. 
Dear Sir : I believe that Washington is the best place on this continent for a 
university doing strictly post-graduate work. 

The advantages offered by the museums, libraries, laboratories, collections, etc., 
which are gathered there afford opportunities to the student which can not be had 
anywhere else. 

I should be glad to see the Government establish a national university, and I wish 
you success in your work. 

Very truly, yours, Cady Staley {President). 



University op Cincinnati, 

Cincinnati, Ohio, December 25, 1894. 

My Dear Sir : In reply to your letter of December 20, 1894, I write that I am 
unqualifiedly in favor of establishing a national university at Washington for grad- 
uate work. We need in America an institution that can offer at least as thorough 
an education along all lines as is offered by a German university. In the very nature 
of things this can be done only by an institution that has back of it Governmental 
support. Although we have in the United States more than one university that is 
doing excellent advanced work, yet we must send students abroad who desire the 
best facilities. We are deceiving ourselves when we say that any university in the 
United States can be compared with certain of the German universities, either in 
teaching, force, or equipment. 

I do not understand why there should be one dissenting voice. 

Trusting that the efforts will be successful, believe me I remain, yours, truly, 

W. O. Sproull {President). 



Muskingum College, 
New Concord, Ohio, March 14, 1895. 
Honored Sir : I am more and more interested and see more plainly the need of 
such an institution. When I first thought of the matter I believed our existing 
institutions sufficient, but now I can see the need of a great national university to 
complete this "truncated pyramid." I am sorry no more copies of the report of 
Senator Proctor and of your memorial are obtainable, but I think I shall write to 
Senators Sherman and Proctor to know if they can send me a copy of each. All are 
valuable. 

Very respectfully, D. A. McClung {President). 



The University of Oklahoma, 

Norman, Okla., October 24, 1894. 
Dear Sir: I was moving about a good deal during the summer and your informa- 
tion regarding the national university escaped my notice. I shall be glad to secure 
it yet, and from what general information I have in regard to the enterprise I shall 
be glad to contribute in any way in my power to its success. 

Hoping to hear from you again, and assuring you of my interest in the work, I 
am, yours, most cordially, 

D. E. Boyd, 

President University of Oklahoma. 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 95 

Portland University, 
Portland, Oreg., January 2, 1894. 
'' My Dear Sir : In reply to yours of the 20tli ultimo permit me to say that I favor a 
national university, to he located at Washington, D. C, for the following reasons: 

1. We need a common head to unify our variant State systems of education and 
to set the gauge to which all shall look who aspire to a liberal education. 

2. In this country, especially, of such ample resources and where popular intelli- 
gence is a necessity as well as our cdmmon pride, we can not afford to be niggardly, 
but should forward, by all means in our power, such a vital interest. 

3. Without intending to subtract from the credit due the noble institutions of 
our country which have done so much in the past to promote liberal studies, it seems 
to me that in the presence of the great universities of the Old World we need a 
national university of wider plan and larger revenues than private benevolence or 
State resources could be expected to maintain. 

4. The presence in Washington of our great national collections — the Congres- 
sional Library, the Patent Office, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Museum, 
the Capitol with its Congressional assemblies, and the representatives of all foreign 
Governments — all of which would exert an important iniiuence in stimulating, 
enlightening, and guiding the minds of students during the formative period of 
life and character, make it peculiarly fitting that the seat of the General Govern- 
ment should be the seat of the national university. 

Trusting that your efforts in this direction will meet with the greatest success, I 
am, very respectfully, yours, 

C. C. Stratton, 
President Portland University. 



Portland University, 

Portland, Oreg., May 20, 1895. 
M»Y Dear Sir: It will give me pleasure to contribute my influence in every prac- 
ticable way toward the end in view, and you are at liberty, therefore, to use my 
name wherever it will be of service. 

Wishing you success in your great undertaking, I am, respectfully and sincerely, 
yours, 

C. C. Stratton {President). 



New York, January 27, 1896. 
Dear Sir : I have yoar favor of January 4, forwarded from Forest Grove, Oreg. 
I am in full sympathy with the effort to secure a national university, and shall be 
glad to have my name added to the committee. 
Very truly, yours, 

Thomas McClelland, 
President Pacific Universiiy, Oregon. 



Miami University, 
Oxford, Ohio, November 18, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I am in receipt of yours of October 30, relating to the proposed national 
post-graduate university at Washington. 

The plan has my most hearty approval. I trust that the efforts may soon be 
rewarded with a suitable beginning of the work. The country is abundantly able 
and, in my judgment, owes it to our educational system and to our scholars to make 
such provision. 

Yours very truly, W. O. Thompson (PresMen^). 



96 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATliS, 

Newport, R. I., September 11, 1894. 
My Dear Governor Hoyt : If by the united, efforts of all the friends of the 
movement the present bill can be passed and become law, it will doubtless be an 
easy matter, in future years, to secure any amendment found, desirable. You may 
depend, upon it that I will cordially and loyally cooperate with you and others. The 
more rigidly the operations of the proposed university are limited to the field of 
post-graduate instruction the better. I will await at all times whatever suggestions 
you may desire to send me, and will always be ready to do all in my power. 
Yours very truly, 

William Pepper 
{Late President University of Pennsylvania), 



Pennsylvania State College, 

Venter County, Pa., Novemler 23, 1894. 

Dear Sir: The establishment at Washington of a national university of the 
broadest scope, and supported by ample income, is in my judgment one of the most 
important projects now before Congress, It is a measure worthy of the most earnest 
efforts of the highest statesmanship. Not only could such a university contribute 
immensely to the growth of a sound and vigorous citizenship, but there is in our 
present conditions a peculiar reason why it would be of incalculable service to the 
cause of public education throughout the United States. It is the peculiarity of all 
institutions in a free country that they spring up and grow. spontaneously, and to 
some extent irregularly, so that they often fail of proper correlation and mutual 
support. 

That has been true of the growth of our systems of public education, higher and 
lower. We have as many different systems as there are States and Territories. It is 
only within recent years, and in only a portion of the States, that an effort has been 
made to bring institutions of primary, secondary, and higher education into such 
mutual relations as would give to each the strength and support of all. Unless I 
greatly mistake, however, the tendency in that direction is now one of the most 
powerful in the educational world and in the public mind generally. But that 
movement is at present necessarily confined within State or Territorial limits. There 
is no bond of connection (except that which is supplied by purely voluntary associ- 
ations) among the systems of the different States. 

Now, Congress has already taken two or three steps of immense importance and 
of rapidly growing influence in this direction. In providing for the establishment 
of what are known as the land-grant colleges in every State in the Union, and in 
supplementing the original act by the laws of 1887 and 1890 (known as the Hatch 
Act and the Morrill Act, respectively), it has helped to create a great group of insti- 
tutions, which already hold the leadership in many States and are rapidly approach- 
ing it in others. These institutions would find their common head in a great national 
university. 

They are naturally bound together Mready through their common relationship to 
the Federal Government, and they closely touch the life of their respective States 
through their relations to the several State governments. 

The graduates of these State colleges and State universities would naturally pass 
on to the national university, and it would seem natural and proper that special 
inducements to do so should be offered primarily to them. We have, therefore, all 
the elements of a magnificent system leading up to one institution which should 
crown and dignify and inspire the whole. The only suitable place for such an insti- 
tution is the city of Washington, the capital of the nation, and the movement for 
its establishment has my most earnest and ardent "Godspeed." 
Faithfully yours, 

Geo. W. Atherton {President). 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 97 

The Pennsylvania State College, 

Center County, Pa., November 6, 1894. 
My Dear Sir : Your letter of the 5t]i instant, witli documents under separate cover, 
is just received. You will be interested to know that in one of my last conversa- 
tions with the late Postmaster. General Howe, he spoke very earnestly on this 
Buhject. 

Yours, very truly, Geo. W. Atherton. 



The Pennsylvania State College, 

Center County, Pa., November 5, 1895. 
Dear Sir: Your personal letter of the 25th ultimo and your special No. 2 of the 
13th were duly received at this office, but at a time when a serious illness kept me 
from any attention to business. I have now looked the documents through with 
very great interest, and fully agree with the wisdom of the steps you have taken 
toward the formation of an '^ executive council." 

Faithfully yours, Geo. W. Atherton. 



GiRARD College, October 29, 1894. 
Dear Sir: I have received the postal card and also the memorial. Unfortunately, 
I have mislaid the former, and I do not know exactly in what way you wish me to 
assist in the movement. Am entirely in sympathy, and will cheerfully contribute 
toward the enterprise in any direction if you will tell me how and when. 
Sincerely yours, 

A. H. Fetterolf {President). 



GiRARD College, 
PMladelpMa, November 13, 1894. 

Dear Sir: I most cheerfully give my indorsement to the scheme for the establish- 
ment of a national university in the city of Washington. Our Government and 
people need such a seat of learning, where the first scholars and the most eminent 
scientists of the nation or of the world may be gathered, and who, by their learning 
and attainments, may draw around them the best and brightest young men of the 
land. 

The national university should have its standard so high as not to be the rival of 
any institution already existing. Its equipment should be thorough and complete 
and its endowment ample. Such an institution would inspire not only the young 
men, but also all other colleges and universities to higher aims and greater efforts. 

I shall write to our Senators and Representatives, urging their support of the 
measure. 

Yours, very truly, A. H. Fetterolf {President). 



GiRARD College, 
Philadelphia, May 8, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Your letter of the 10th ultimo was mislaid, and for this reason remained 
unanswered. 

I am perfectly willing that my name shall be on the national committee. If this 
comes too late I shall be sorry, as it was all my own oversight. 

Wishing you abundant success in the good cause, I am, yours truly, 

A. H. Fetterolf. 



Western University of Pennsylvania, 

Pittsburg, November 10, 1894. 
Dear Sir: I owe you an apology for not having replied before this to your 
esteemed letters of recent date. I have been too busy to give the matter that atten- 
tion which the magnitude and importance of the undertaking merits until to-day. 
Having just completed the reading of the documents you have kindly sent me, I 
S. Eep. 429 7 



98 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

desire now to say that it is impossible for me to add by any words of mine to the 
presentation of the merits of the cause you have espoused and which has already 
BO long and so ably been advocated by those who possess far more influence, knowl- 
edge, and eloquence than I can claim. 

The plan set forth in the papers before me is most noble, most feasible, most nee- 
cessary. The best gift of man to man is an education, using that word in its broad- 
est sense, as involving the development alike of the intellect and moral faculties. 
The American people are awake to the general necessity of providing an elementary 
education for the children of the Eepublic. The older institutions of learning and 
many of those more recently established have received princely gifts, reflecting alike 
the wisdom and the generosity of those who have made them, but it remains for the 
people to set a crown upon all the splendid efl"ort8 of the past by establishing through 
those who are the representatives of the people in the highest sense such an institu- 
tion as that which it is proposed to bring into being at the national capital. 

You have my best wishes for entire success in these truly enlightened efl^orts, and 
any help which I can give in forwarding the design I shall be most happy to render. 
I have the honor to be, very faithfully, yours, 

W. J. Holland 
{Cliancellor of the Western University of Pennsylvania). 



Western University of Pennsylvania, 

Allegheny, Pa., Uecemier 6, 1894. 
My Dear Governor : The more I reflect upon the proposition embodied in the 
proposed legislation the more I like it. It is plain to me, as it already is to you, that 
the establishment of such an institution will prove a mighty stimulus to the other 
institutions throughout the land, and could not fail to do a vast amount of practical 
good. 

I am yours, very truly, W. J. Holland, 

Chancellor of the Western University of Pennsylvania, 



Western University of Pennsylvania, 

Allegheny, Pa., April IS, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Your favor of April 10 has been received by me and given due consid- 
eration. It will give me pleasure to serve as a member of tho committee of promo- 
tion, which you propose to form, and to do whatever is within my power to promote 
the objects you have in view. I have already expressed myself as in favor of the 
plan of establishing a national university at the seat of the Federal Government. 
I am yours, very truly, 

W. J. Holland, 
Chancellor of the Western University of Pennsylvania. 



Western University of Pennsylvania, 

Allegheny, Pa., December 14, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : I owe you a hearty apology for not having long ere this replied to 
your letter of October 16 in relation to the national university. 

I wish to say that I greatly appreciate the energy and enthusiasm which you and 
others are displaying on behalf of this cause, that you may rely upon me to do all 
in my power to aid you, and that I quite apjjrove of your suggestions in relation to 
the formation of an executive council. The gentlemen whom you name in your 
circular are some of them personal friends of mine ; all of them are known to me to 
be men thoroughly qualified to render most efficient service to the cause. If I can in 
any way aid by bringing my influence to bear upon friends I will cheerfully do so. 
I am yours, very truly, 

W. J. Holland, 
Chancellor Western University of Pennsylvania. 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 99 

The Lehigh University, 
South Bethlehem, Pa., December 24, 1894. 
Dear Sir: In answer to your letter of tlie 20tli December, just received, I beg to 
say that I am entirely in favor of the establishment of a national university. 

I was the organizer and first president of this institution, and am now doing duty 
as acting president. I am also one of the regents of the Smithsonian Institution, in 
whose service I make periodical visits to Washington. I shall he glad to aid this 
excellent cause in any way in my power. 

Very faithfully yours, Henry Coppee, LL. D., 

Acting President, 



Geneva College, 
Beaver Falls, Pa., Decemh&r 26, 1894. 
Dear Sir : Your letter with regard to the establishment of a national university and 
the speeches of Senators Hunton and Vilas in advocacy of the same have been 
received. I hope you may succeed in your undertaking. The General Government 
ought to do at least as much as the State governments in the cause of education. It 
wonld be of vast account if students from all the States could meet at a central 
university and together get instruction under men of world-wide reputation. There 
would be more uniformity of view on political questions if State lines were crossed 
in order to get help at a common source. To be allowed to hear the discussions from 
time to time — discussions on many questions — in either House of Congress would be 
of vast account to students who would be giving themselves to investigation on many 
lines. The Methodists and Catholics are making great schools at the Capital. May 
the nation do as well as the church, when the needs are so great. 
Yours truly, 

Wm. p. Johnston, 

President Geneva College. 



Bryn Mawr, Pa., Decemler 26, 1894. 
Dear Sir: As the subject of a national university to be established at Washing- 
ton has claimed my thought at times for some years, I do not hesitate to state that T 
believe the founding of such a university would be for the good of our whole coun- 
try and that it should be done. It ought to be a true university, for the advanced 
education of graduates of our universities and colleges, for original research, and 
for the publication of new additions to our stores of knowledge. 

It should set the highest practicable standard in scholarship and investigation, so 
as to elevate the character of education throughout our country and attract to its 
Instruction the ablest of our graduates, both men and women. 

Its several faculties should form corps of experts to whom the Government might 
apply for information upon subjects of national importance. 
I am, very respectfully, yours, 

James E. Ehoads 
(Late President Bryn Mawr College). 



Lafayette College, Easton, Pa., January 8, 1896. 
My Dear Sir : I shall be glad to cooperate with you in your work as a member of 
the national committee of one hundred. 

Wishing abundant success in the good cause, I am, very truly, 

Ethelbert D. Warfield, President, 



Swarthmore College, 
Swarthmore, Pa., Decemler 4, 1894. 
Fraternal Friend : I was glad of our interview at Baltimore. * * * if our 
country could have a university truly worthy of that great name it would be a bless- 
ing indeed to the cause of education from the highest to the lowest grade. * * * 

Edwd. H. Magill {Late President). 



100 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

SWARTHMORE COLLEGE, 

Sivarthviore, Pa., December 26, 1894. 
Dear Sir: Our country can never come up to the full measure of its duty and 
opportunity in education until it establishes on a broad, liberal foundation a 
national university for graduate study. No povrer but the nation, in no place but 
Washington, can do this work on a scale such as the wealth, dignity, extent, and 
intelligence of the United States naturally warrant. 

It is natural as well as fitting that this enterprise should have had the backing of 
our best men for a century or more. That this idea, whose importance is in some 
degree measured by the time required for its development, will be realized at last 
can not be doubted. I trust the great work may be inaugurated soon, and that its 
accomplishment may be the initial step for a new century of still greater progress. 
Very truly yours, 

Charles De Garmo, 
President Swarthmore College. 



Haverford College, 
JSaverford, Pa., December 24, 1894. 
Dear Sir : A national university devoted to advanced graduate work, paying to 
professors the highest salaries and wisely selecting them, would be a great advan- 
tage, and Washington is the place for it. 

Very truly, I. Sharpless {President). 



Swarthmore College, 
Stvarthmore, Pa., December 4, 1894. 
Esteemed Friend: If our country could have a university truly professional and 
worthy of that great name, it would be a blessing indeed to the cause of education— 
from the highest to the lowest grade. 

Colleges should adhere to their own work, with their own methods, and give 
bachelor's degrees only. Why should colleges continue the absurd practice of giving 
second degrees for what is really only university work ? Is it not well for us to hold 
up an ideal to work toward, whether we can reach it in five years or in five decades? 
The idea is truly a worthy one. All must admit that organization is of great value 
in these days, and that without mutual concessions and forbearance no organization 
will ever be possible. I would by no means imitate France and Germany in com- 
bining preparatory schools and colleges, as in their lyc6es and gymnasia, our col- 
lege course of four years — between the preparatory course and the university — being, 
I conceive, as we manage it, of the utmost value to our people. 
Very cordially, 

Edw. H. Magill {Late President, etc.). 



Swarthmore College, 
Swarthmore, Pa., June 21, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : I am sure that at no time in the past was the public mind so well 
prepared to receive it as now. The completion of an educational edifice demands our 
attention. When we compare our system (which is a system without system) with 
the more complete organizations of England, and especially of France and Germany, 
Americans should feel that they can no longer afi'ord to remain so far in the back- 
ground. And the many things needed to secure the proper articulation of the various 
grades of our schools, colleges, and universities can never be so well secured as by 
establishing one great national head, which shall not only direct by its influence and 
example the entire system below it, but which shall stand a great beacon light in 
the educational world for other nations to follow. What our country is to the rest 
of the world politically it should become educationally at no distant day. 
I am, most cordially, your friend, 

Edw. H. Magill {Late President, etc.). 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 101 

SWARTHMORE COLLEGE, 

Swarthmore, Pa., April IS, 1895. 
Dear Sir: Your favor of April 10 is at hand. You have my full permission to use 
my name in making up the list of your committee. Whenever I can he of any serv- 
ice in promoting the cause of the national university I shall hope to hear from you. 
Very truly yours, 

Charles De Garmo {President). 



Thiel College, 
Greenville, Pa., December 27, 1894. 
Dear Sir: I can add nothing to the argument in behalf of a great national uni- 
versity. I favor it with all my heart. 

Theophilus B. Roth, 

President Thiel College. 



Muhlenberg College, 
Allentoion, Pa., December 27, 1894. 
My Dear Sir : In answer to your letter of the 20th instant, I would say that I 
heartily favor the establishment at Washington of the university of the United 
States for post-graduate work. I need not give the many reasons that influence 
my judgment in this matter. In truth, the more I think over the subject the more 
I am surprised that this project of the fathers was not long ago carried to a suc- 
cessful issue, so far as this can be accomplished by national legislation. I shall take 
pleasure in cooperating with you in this work as far as I may be able. 
Very truly yours, 

Theodore L. Seip {President). 



Thiel College, 
Greenville, Pa., April 15, 1895. 
Dear Sir: Your favor of the 10th instant is at hand. Regretting the failure to 
call up the national university bill, but in no wise despairing of the hope that it will 
be not only called up, but also passed by a large majority. 
Yours, respectfully, 

Theophilus B. Roth {President). 



Muhlenberg College, 

Allentown, Pa., April 17, 1895. 
Dear Sir : In answer to yours of recent date, I would say that it will give me 
pleasure to cooperate, to the best of my ability, with the committee for the promo- 
tion of the establishment of the university of the United States. I therefore accede 
to your request to use my name as a member of the national committee of one hun- 
dred. 

Very respectfully yours, Theodore L. Seip {President). 



Geneva College, 
Beaver Falls, Pa., April 15, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Yours of the 10th this day received. You are at liberty to use my 
name, if of any service to you, in the furtherance of project looking to the estab- 
lishment of a national university at Washington. 

I am truly yours, W. P. Johnston {President). 



Brown University, 
Providence, B. I., May 10, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : 1 have your esteemed letter of the 8th, and in reply wiU say that if 
my name on the committee of one hundred will be of any service in furthering the 
great cause of a national university I shall be most happy to have it there. 
Cordially, 

E. Benj. Andrews (President). 



102 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Brown University, 
Providence, R. I., October 19, 1895. 
My Dear Sir: Your favor of October 16 to hand. Your enterprise impresses me 
more and more as a worthy one. What you have done so far I judge to be wise, 
and the thought of such, a committee as you propose strikes me as also in the right 
direction. How, practically, to enlist Congress you must know far better than any 
of us who are far away. I think I am confident that all Rhode Island Congressmen 
will be on the right side when a vote is to be taken. 
Sincerely yours, 

E. Benj. Andrews {President). 



University op South Dakota, 

Vermilion, S. Dak., November 7, 1894. 

Sir : I heartily thank you for your letter of August 20, the card of October 22, and 
the two documents referred to. Though amid extraordinary perplexities, I could 
not, consistently with any sense of gratitude for your persistent and patriotic endeav- 
ors, do less than examine in detail what you sent. This I have done to-day with 
sincere and growing interest. 

It would be a piece of the wisest business economy for the Federal Government to 
found the proposed university as a means to the fullest fruition of enormous grants 
heretofore made to many independent schools for primary and secondary education. 
Schools so aided have their own widely differing standards, and are working in the 
particular interest of the several States by whose appropriations they are in part 
maintained. Their services are of necessity largely local, and their instruction upon 
questions of national application is exposed to such local influences as dominant 
political views, the temper of legislatures as to appropriations, and the like. If they 
resist tendencies to sectionalism — one of the gravest tendencies in national affairs — 
it is in spite of our so-called system of education. The greater the number of such 
schools the greater the need of a national university. 

Can the General Government afford to thus spend millions without adding a rea- 
sonable amount for a university which shall fix a standard of excellence, which shall 
carry that standard, through its graduates, down to the lower schools already receiv- 
ing Government aid ; which shall bring our youth from all pairts of the land, and 
correct their sectional bias by contact with associates of different views, with the 
National Legislature, Administration, and courts? A university so located could do 
far more than any other agency in the correction of extreme and harmful sectional 
tendencies and passions, and in imparting that broader view of national questions 
which can not be gained outside of Washington. 

From the educational standpoint it is a shame that so great a people do not have 
one university. The word " university," as a misnomer, is so common that the major- 
ity of graduates of American institutions have no intelligent conception of the proper 
function and scope of a university. It is not surprising that public men are slow to 
appreciate the fact so palpable to educators, that we have not a single university 
proper in this broad land. So far from interfering with existing institutions, the 
one you propose would be of incalculable benefit to all. 

If there were not other and greater reasons, patriotism and national pride should 
supply this want for the sole purpose of avoiding the humiliating spectacle of thou- 
sands going abroad for the higher education, a standing confession of weakness of 
their own country, imbibing foreign ideas, expending American wealth upon an 
education which often requires no more time to acquire than is necessary to adjust 
it to the needs of their native land. A national university of their own would have 
none of these disadvantages, and would instill a patriotism akin to that which so 
conspicuously marks the student of West Point or Annapolis. 

Partisan plaudits may reward one who supports measures whicb are repeatedly 



UNIVERSITY O^ TJIE UNITED STATES. lOS 

changed by mutations of partisan control. Those who found the proposed univer- 
sity will enjoy the lasting credit of favoring an enterprise about which, once estab- 
lished, there will be no question in the future aside from extent of support.- 
Very respectfully yoursy 

Joseph W. Mauck {President 

University of South Dakota, 

Vermilion, S. Dale, April 17, 1895: 
Dear Sir : Your esteemed favor of April 10 is at hand; I heartily appreciate th6 
honor of your invitation to accept an appointment as a inember of the prdpoSed 
committee of promotion in the interests of the national university. The saine is 
gratefully accepted, and it will be a pleasure to me to do all in my power to furthei' 
the aims of the committee. It is to be sincerely hoped that your untiring labors in 
this matter will continue to be rewarded by a growing sentiment in favor of the 
university, and that they will eventually be rewarded by the complete consumma- 
tion of all plans. 

Very respectfully, yours, J. W. Mauck {President), 

Pierre University, 
East Pierre, 8. Dak., December 28, 1894. 
Dear Sir: Respecting the proposed national university, my limited knowledge 
of its intended character and curricula may excuse me from expressing a very 
decided opinion. But if it shall promote the leading ideas of George Washington in 
reference to the foundations of our liberties and Government, expressed in his fare- 
well address, I most cordially favor the establishment of so great an institution. I 
indorse the statements of the Hon. William F. Vilas as to the main purposes of 
such a university in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth paragraphs of his speech 
relative to it. 

Respectfully yours, William M. Blackburn, {President). 



Pierre University, 
East Pierre, S. Dale., April 16, 1895. 
Dear Sir: Your circiilar letter sent me came to hand to-day. The honor of an 
appointment on the large committee proposed, however highly appreciated, is not 
the important consideration in my mind. My motive in accepting it would be to 
represent more fully this part of the country and help in what measure I may to pro- 
mote the interests of the proposed national university aiid help to give shape to 
it. My help can not be very great, yet even one voice may have some influence. I 
can not add to its funds nor bear much expense of committee work for various 
reasons ; nor can I be expected to attend meetings of the committee, unless in some 
rare instances. Frankly stating all this, I will say that if you think I can be of any 
good service in the committee, you are at liberty to use my name. 
Yours respectfully, 

William M. Blackburn {President). 



United States Department oe Agriculture, 

Oefice oe Assistant Secretary, 

Washington, D. 0., August 25, 1894. 
My Dear Sir: rt gives me pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of your valued 
favor of the 20th instant, forwarded to me here from the University of Tennessee. 
I am very glad to hear from you upon such a subject, for I am favorable to the 
scheme for a national post-graduate university. 

I am at present, and have been since the 1st of January, presiding over this office, 
where I shall be glad to see you at any time. 

With warm personal regards, very truly yours, 

Chas. W. Dabney, Jr. 
{President University of Tennessee), 



104 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Department op Agriculture, 

Office of Assistant Secretary, 

Washington, D. C, April 12, 1895. 
My Dear Governor: Your circular letter of April 10, giving information in 
regard to the present condition of the bill for the establishment of the University of 
the United States, was duly received. 

I appreciate the honor of being a member of your proposed new national committee 
of one hundred, and will be very glad to assist you in any way in my power. I am 
already loaded down with about as much business as I can carry, and you must not 
expect too much of me. It will be a great pleasure, however, to assist as far as I 
may be able. 
With best wishes and high regard, very truly yours, 

Chas. W. Dabney, Jr. 
(^President UniversUy of Tennessee). 



University op Nashville, 
Peabody Normal College, 
Nashville, Tenn., February 20, 1895. 
Dear Sir: The pending bill to establish the university of the United States has 
my hearty indorsement. Such a university would stimulate and perfect not only 
the higher education of the country, but also, by a process of downward diffusion, 
our secondary and primary education. The spirit of the nation at large should be 
represented by a national institution. 

yery respectfully, William H. Payne, Chancellor. 



Southwestern Presbyterian University, 

Clarlcsville, Tenn., December 25, 1894. 
Dear Sir : Your circular letter of the 20th instant has been received, followed by 
the documents named therein. 

Without knowing all the details of the measure which you advocate, a copy of the 
bill not having come to me, I will say that I heartily indorse the idea of a national 
university for post-graduate work. Such an institution would make possible certain 
lines of study which it is not practicable at this time for even the best-endowed insti- 
tutions to maintain, and its work would not necessarily conflict with that of the 
universities already established and doing successful work. 
Very truly yours, 

George Summey, Chancellor. 



Central Tennessee College, 
Nashville, Tenn., November 15, 1895. 
Dear Sir : It seems to me no one can doubt the utility and necessity of a national 
university to a complete system of educational institutions, if we would furnish 
those seeking advanced education in our own country. I hope the Fifty-fourth Con- 
gress may do itself the exalted honor of establishing such a university on a most 
liberal basis. 

Yours truly, J. Braden (President). 



Cumberland University, 
Lebanon, Tenn., November 2, 1895. 
Dear Sir: Your communications of October 13 and 26 have been received. 
As I have heretofore written to you, I heartily approve the movement for a great 
United States university. 

I will take pleasure in seeing our Eepresentative, Hon. Benton McMillin, and will 
ask him to support the measure. Your plan of operation is fine and ought to succeed. 
I hope it will. 

Ever yours truly, N. Green (President). 



UNIVEESITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 105 

The University of the South, 

Setvanee, Tenn., Novemher 22, 1894. 
My Dear Sir: I am very much interested in tbe establishment of a national 
university for post-graduate instruction, and I desire to urge upon Congress the 
importance of taking immediate and favorable action in the matter. It gives me 
pleasure to indorse the reasons which have been so admirably set forth by prominent 
educators throughout the Union. The establishment of such a university vt^ould do 
more for the upbuilding of this great nation than anything else. 
With assurances of sympathy in your laudable untertaking, I am. 
Yours, very faithfully, 

B. L. Wiggins ( Vice- Chancellor). 



The University of the South, 

Setvanee, Tenn., Octoier 24, 1895. 
My Dear Sir: Your letter of 16th instant is duly received. I am decidedly of the 
opinion that it would be advisable for the national committee to elect an executive 
council, as you propose, and in the way that you propose, in order that immediate 
and definite steps may be taken to secure the end in view. 
I shall be glad to cooperate with you in such measure as I may be able. 
With best wishes, I am, yours, very faithfully, 

B. L. Wiggins, Vice-Chancellor. 



FisK University, 
Nashville, Tenn., November 8, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Your favors of the 31st ultimo have been received, and I have given the 
question of the establishment of a national post-graduate university at Washington 
somewhat careful consideration. The result is, I am ready to indorse the plan and 
to do what I can to further the passage of a suitable bill by Congress providing for 
the establishment of such a university. 

Sincerely yours, E. M. Cravath {President). 



The University of Utah, 

Salt Lake City, January 2, 1894. 

Dear Sir : There is no doubt in my mind that a national university established at 

Washington would prove to be of great importance to our country. A university of 

this character would open up a way by which all legitimate original work could be 

done, and by men of all shades of thought. I most heartily favor such a university. 

Respectfully, 

J. T. Kingsbury, 
Vice-President University of Utah. 



The University of Utah, 
Salt Lake City, April 24, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : Your letter of April 10 addressed to Professor Kingsbury, who for 
the two years preceding July, 1894, was acting president of the University of Utah, 
has reached my hand. I assure you of my deep interest and desire for general coop- 
eration in the work of establishing a university of the United States. Should you 
desire the name of the president of the University of Utah to appear on your com- 
mittee list, I shall regard the appointment as an honor. Kindly advise me of any- 
thing I can do to further the cause of your organization. 
With very best regards, I am, most truly, yours, 

J. E. Talmage {President). 



106 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Washington and Lee University, 

Lexington, Fa., November 7, 1894. 
Dear Sir: The president of tliis institution (G. W. C. Lee), who is but just recov- 
ering from severe illness, desires me to say, in answer to your letter of the 5tli 
instant, that he is hardly yet able to do much, but will carry out your wishes as 
soon as he can do so. 

EespectfuUy, Thos. E. Marshall, Jr. {Private Secretary). 



College op "William and Mary, 

Williamsburg, Va., Novemher 4, 1895. 

My Dear Sir : I am in receipt of your letter and accompanying pamphlets, regard- 
ing the project of a national university. As one who is a thorough friend of educa- 
tion and sincerely believes that in this solitary remedy is found the panacea for all 
public evils, I am cordially in favor of the proposition of a national post-graduate 
university of the highest possible rank. I can not understand how any sane person 
could oppose the scheme on the score of utility. With every advantage in the city 
of Washington, a public library of gigantic size, the Smithsonian Institution, the 
National Museum, the National Observatory, and the numerous other educational 
appliances, a national university would prove the most magnificent success. Wash- 
ington City is not only monumental in name, but monumental in its public institu- 
tions. A university would be the capping stone to the monument. 

Of the appropriations of money made by Congress and the laws applied to the 
Union at large, much complaint of partiality has been expressed. In the operation 
of the tariff and pension laws, the Southern section of the Union has felt, and justly 
felt, that it has been discriminated against in the most rigorous manner; but no 
such feeling can exist in reference to the patriotic measure of a national university 
in Washington. It is the center of the Union, and the beneficiaries of a university 
there established would be the people of all sections. As one representing a South- 
ern college, I am sure the proposition would receive the indorsement of the whole 
South. I trust, therefore, that your splendid suggestion- will receive from Congress 
the consideration it deserves. 

I am, truly yours, Lyon G. Tyler {President). 



College of William and Mary, 

Williamsburg, Va., November 80, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : From the tenor of your letter received to-day it would seem that 
you had not received my letter in reply to your circular. But it gives me pleasure 
to repeat the assurances already given of my hearty indorsement of your splendid 
design of a national university. I will consider it a high honor to be a member of 
your committee of one hundred, Of all questions, this is one as to which there 
should be least difference of opinion. There have grown up at Washington so many 
institutions and appliances of an educational character that the monument is in fact 
already erected and needs only the topping out. The establishment of the univer- 
sity makes available at once numerous factors created at the expense of many million 
dollars. Without the university, many possibilities will remain undeveloped. I hold 
that education is the highest good, and that money expended for this purpose is sub- 
ject to the least abuse and is employed in the best cause. The powers of the Federal 
Government have been often exerted in a manner to excite sectiona1*dissatisfaction. 
There is a conviction among different States of the Union that their interests are 
sacrificed to promote the welfare of other communities of people. But a national 
university is one which is free from the objection of partiality. The power of Con- 
gress to legislate for the District of Columbia was admitted by the strictest of our 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 107 

constitutional interpreters, and it is the only place where it would be expedient 
and constitutionally right to erect the university of the United States. 
Assuring you again of my hearty cooperation in the proposed design, 
I am, truly yours, 

Lyon G. Tyler, 
President of William and Mary College. 



ViRGixiA Agricultural and Mechanical College, 

Blackslurg, Va., Noverriber 18, 1895. 
Dear Sir: You are at liberty to enroll my name as a friend and supporter of the 
plan for a national university. 

Yours respectfully, J. M. McBryoe {President), 



Hamburg, Va., January 1, 1895, 
Dear Sir: Please accept my thanks for speeches, etc., on the proposed national 
university. I have read them with much pleasure. I have no doubt that Eev. L. 
Bookwalter, D. D., my successor as president of "Western College, will heartily 
approve of the pending measure, as I most certainly do. I trust that you will be 
ssful. 
Sincerely yours, A. P. Funkhouse, 

{Late President Western College, Iowa), 



Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, 

Hampton, Va., December 24, 1894, 
Dear Sir : Yours of December 20 is at hand, and I hasten to express my sincere 
interest in the plan proposed for a national university. 

Those of us who are engaged in practical school work, especially in the lower 
grades, feel very much the need of more systematic work in the matter of research. 
Take, for instance, the subject of the Indian and negro races; how few statistics 
there are at hand, and how little of scientific study has been given to this matter. 
We are very thankful for the work that Johns Hopkins University and other institu- 
tions have done, but there certainly is still need of some institution that can make 
special study of the great questions that have to do with the welfare of our country, 
in a broad and scientific way. 

Wishing to express my entire sympathy with your enterprise, very truly, yours, 

H. B. Frissell {President), 



Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, 

Hampton, Va., November 2, 1895. 
My Dear Sir: I was interested to learn from yours of the 16th ultimo of the prog- 
ress that has been made toward a national university. 

The formation of an executive committee seems to me altogether desirable, and 
certainly the names mentioned are most excellent and have my most cordial approval. 
Very truly yours, 

H. B. Frissell {President), 



University of Washington, 
Seattle, Wash., November 15, 1895, 
Dear Sir : In reply to your letter of November 6, relating to the national univer- 
sity proposed for Washington City, I would say that I have in other ways become 
acquainted with the plan, and hope it may be carried out to a successful conclusion. 
Yours, respectfully, 

Mark W. Harrington, President. 



108 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

West Virginia University, 

Morgantown, November IS, 1894. 
Dear Sir: I have your letter and "memorial concerning a national university." 
From such information as I have about the matter, and from such attention as I 
have been able to give to it, I am decidedly of the opinion that the project to estab- 
lish such a national university as proposed is entirely feasible, and that the expendi- 
ture necessary to create and maintain such an institution could be devoted to no 
purpose that would bring more benefit to the country or more honor to the authori- 
ties founding it. I shall be ready to contribute whatever I can to the success of the 
enterprise, and sincerely hope the efforts of yourself and others in its behalf may be 
successful. 

Yours, very respectfully, P. B. Eeynolds 

{President West Virginia University). 



West Virginia University, 

Morgantown, March 12, 1896. 
Very Dear Sir : If you so desire you can place my name in the National Univer- 
sity committee of one hundred. 

A national university at Washington in the interests of higher education would 
be able to utilize the vast stores of education material in the various national 
institutions. 

Such an educational institution would be a fitting tribute to the Father of his 
Country, and would be the fit crowning glory of our State and national educational 
system. 
I shall be pleased to lend whatever aid I can in this movement. 
Yours, very sincerely and cordially, 

J. L. Goodknight, 
President of West Virginia University. 



West Virginia College, 
Fleming ton, W. Vq,., December 24, 1894. 
^ Dear Sir: A national university, under the patronage of the Government, seems 
in every way a necessity to give a more thorough and finished education in our 
country. Whilst we have schools and colleges of high rank, yet many deem it 
important to spend a year or two in some of the higher universities of Europe. Why 
not establish a school here that would wholly obviate such university course in 
Europe or any other foreign country? A national university would evidently lead 
to the establishment of a higher grade of scholarship in every department of sci- 
ence and knowledge. This, in itself, is desirable, and the Government should make 
ample provision to secure a more advanced scholarship; and how could this be 
done more successfully than by the Government establishing such university? I 
heartily approve the measure. 

Very truly yours, D. Powell. 



University of Wisconsin, 

Madison, December 11, 1891. 
My Dear Sir : I have the pleasure of acknowledging your letter of the 28th ultimo 
relative to the establishment of a national university, and of expressing my interest 
therein and concurrence in your plan and effort. I am willing to be serviceable in 
the matter in any way that may seem fit. 

Very truly yours, T. C. Chamberlin {President). 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 109 

University of Wisconsin, 

Madison, April 22, 1895. 
My Dear Mr. Hoyt : Your perseverance is entitled to the largest possible reward. 
The papers m regard to the national university have not yet arrived, but I have no 
doubt they will remove what little hesitation I expressed to you in my last letter. 
You may count me among the friends of the measure. 

Hoping for you that immediate success which you so earnestly desire, I am, very 
truly yours, 

C. K. Adams {President). 



University of Wisconsin, 

Madison, Oetoher 28, 1895. 
Dear Sir : It seems to me on the whole wise that a committee such as you name 
should be organized and that an executive force selected from that committee should 
be appointed from the vicinity of Washington to look after the work necessary to 
be done. Of course, everybody interested in the measure should see that it has the 
approval of their Members of Congress, so far as such approval can be secured. 
I am, very heartily, yours, 

C. K. Adams {President). 

Eacine College, 
Bacine, Wis., December 31, 1894. 
Dear Sir : I am heartily in favor of the university. 

Yours, very truly, A. Piper, 

President Eacine College. 



Northwestern University, 
Watertown, Wis., January 6, 1895. 
Dear Sir: I think that the University of the United States, if established, would 
be of great benefit to the people. Thousands of young men annually go to Germany 
to study there, and many of them derive only little benefit on account of the differ- 
ent language. As soon as we have a real university most of such men will stay here. 
Besides, our colleges will be benefited to a great extent, as they can get well- 
trained teachers. 
I heartily indorse the proposition and wish it all the success it so well deserves. 
Yours, very truly, 

A. F. Ernst, 
President Northwestern University. 



Northwestern University, 
Watertown, Wis., April 15, 1895. 

Dear Sir : Yours of the 10th received. I am very willing to allow the use of my 
name as you may see fit, and shall do all in my power to help you on in the noble 
work you have undertaken. 

With me this is a movement that I have longed for since a long time. Though my 
college bears the proud name of a university it is none and never will be one. But 
it is a respectable and successful college, and we shall change the name. 

After graduation many students have asked me where to go to study further. 
Some went to Johns Hopkins, some to Cornell, some to Yale, some to the University 
of Michigan, of Wisconsin, or to Chicago. But most of them, among them my own 
sons, went to Germany, and there they liked it best. 

Now, I am a German myself and I know what I owe to the German universities. 
But could and should we not have the same opj)ortunities in this vast and glorious 
country ? And would it not make our young men better fitted to work here ? Could 



110 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

not a spirit be developed among students and professors as liigli as the one we appre- 
ciate so much among German students f This can not be done among our western 
State universities. This can only be done in an institution that admits only- 
graduates of colleges of good standing, and no undergraduates whatever. 

Then the university work should be divided into two classes. Some professors 
should devote their time principally to the development of their science by original 
research. Others should devote themselves to communicating to their hearers the 
highest and best results of the work in their science as it then stands. 

The men who succeed in establishing the national university will do similar work 
to that of men like Fichte and Schleiermacher and Humboldt when the Univerersity 
of Berlin was founded, in 1810. 

Yours, very truly, A. F. Ernst (President). 



LETTERS FROM STATE SUPERINTENDENTS OF PUBLIC 
INSTRUCTION. 

[Alphabetically arranged by States.] 



State of Arkansas, Department of Education, 

Little Bock, October 10, 1894. 
Dear Sir : I am in full sympathy with the, measure to establish in the United 
States a national university. I have always agreed with the first and greatest of 
our Presidents upon this question, and have always been proud of the men who, 
since his day, have given their abilities to the consummation of the idea. 

As I see it, such an institution has become a public necessity. We have hundreds 
of aspiring institutions that would like to be universities. A national institution 
comprehensively established would level these and contribute to their real power. 
It would also exercise a disciplinary as well as an elevating power upon the thou- 
sands of colleges and preparatory schools that, with varying standards, not only 
oppose each other, but lower the real value of education. 

Besides this the needs of public elementary education press eloquently for such a 
school. Systems, city, and State, are everywhere. Each of them has a dimly defined 
end, and this in turn is reached through the slow stages of experience and experi- 
ment. These systems need an inspiring central light — such as can come from a great 
national school. 

I join with you cheerfully in the request that the National Congress give to the 
United States a national university as the great capstone to our educational develop- 
ment. I trust that the bill now before the Senate will pass. 
Respectfully, 

JosiAH H. Shinn 
(Superintendent Public Instruction), 



State of Alabama, Office op Educational Department, 

Montgomery, November 6, 1S95. 
Dear Sir : I have carefully read your plan to secure the establishment of a national 
post-graduate university at Washington. I hereby most heartily give my indorse- 
ment to the plan, and hope it may be a success. 

Yours, truly, John O. Turner, 

State Superintendent Education for Alabama. 



State of Alabama, Office op Educational Department, 

Montgomery, December 10, 1895. 
Dear Sir: I have carefully read yours of November 20, and should have replied 
much earlier. I have not the time to outline any thoughts for your guidance in the 
matter. Still I must say I feel a great interest in the success of the final estab- 
lishment of the national university as indicated by you, and I think your plans will 
ultimately accomplish the work. With best wishes for your success on that line, 
I am, very truly, 

John O. Turner, 
State Superintendent Education. 
Ill 



112 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Office of Territorial Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

Mesa, Maricopa County, Ariz., November 11, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : Yours of the 22cl instant is at hand and contents noted. I feel the 
same interest in the success of the national post-graduate university movement that 
every loyal American, every advocate of our system of public education, and every 
student ought to feel in the movement. 

Such an institution as the one proposed vt^ould certainly be a fitting capstone to 
the grandest public school system in the world, and I will be glad to be counted as 
one of its friends and promoters if I can be of any assistance in any way. 

Of course, our representative in Congress has no vote, but I doubt not that he will 
be ready to advocate the proposition whenever opportunity offers. 
Very truly yours, 

F. J. Netherton, 
Superintendent of Public Instruction. 



State op California, Department of Public Instruction, 

Sacramento, October 30, 1894. 

Dear Sir : A copy of your Senate memorial relative to the establishment of a 
ational university came to hand in due season, but in consequence of the demand 
upon my time and labor in the discharge of my official duties, I have put off the con- 
sideration thereof to "a, more convenient season." 

Adverting to the matter now, permit me to say that I am in hearty accord with 
you in youreiforts to accomplish an enterprise that should have been begun and car- 
ried to completion many years ago. I fully believe that the organization of such 
an institution will accomplish more for the great cause of public education and for 
the inculcation of a higher and purer patriotism than any other agency can hope to 
accomplish. If instituted upon the broad basis proposed, such a university will 
be of inestimable benefit in the new and powerful impetus which it will give to our 
different State universities, to our colleges, and to the cause of education throughout 
the entire land. That such a university is a leading want of our times and of our 
nation no lover of our noble institution of free American government can gainsay. 

I most fully indorse all that has been said in reference to this important mat- 
ter, and I sincerely wish for you most abundant success in your efforts to accomplish 
the object for which you have so earnestly and so disinterestedly labored. It will be 
my pleasure, as it is my duty, to contribute my mite of influence in aid of an enter- 
prise so abundantly fraught with benefit to the people and to the institutions of our 
country. 

Very truly yours, J. "W. Anderson, 

{Superintendent Public Instruction.) 



State of California, Department of Public Instruction, 

Fresno, December 10, 1894. 
My Dear Sir : Some time ago I sent you a letter expressive of my opinion as to 
the desirability of establishing a national university, and I subsequently received 
from you a letter recognizing the receipt of mine. 

The enterprise has my most hearty approval, and I sincerely hope that Congress 
will, at its present session, take action upon the matter. Such a university will 
immeasurably add to the interest in higher education throughout the land. On my 
return to Sacramento I will take pleasure in urging upon our Senators and Eepresent- 
atives a hearty support of the measure now pending. 

Truly yours, J. W. Anderson, 

Superintendent of Public Instruction, 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 113 

State of California, Department op Public Instruction, 

Sacramento, Novemler 1, 1895. 
Dear Sir: I have your circular letter of October 22, and note what you say on the 
margin thereof. Let me say in reply that this is the first communication of the 
kind sent me. While the documents you speak of have not yet come to hand, I am 
somewhat familiar with the eftbrts made from time to time in behalf of a great 
national university. Please enroll my name as one of the most enthusiastic advo- 
cates and supporters of the project. Any suggestions you may make regarding work 
that I might do with the delegation from this State to Congress I shall be glad to 
follow. 

Cordially and fraternally yours, Samuel T. Black, 

State Su;perintendent, California. 



State of Colorado, Department of Public Instruction, 

Denver, November 30, 1895. 
Dear Sir : The national post-graduate university at Washington meets with my 
approval. 

Yours truly, A. J. Peavey 

{Superintendent Public Instruction). 



Office of Superintendent of Free Schools, 

Dover, Del., January 21, 1896. 
Mt Dear Sir : I most cheerfully indorse the plan of establishing at Washington 
a national university of the character you describe in your circular. 
Very truly, 

C. C. TiNDAL {Superintendent). 



Educational Department, State of Florida, 

Tallahassee, January 12, 1892. 
Dear Sir : Yours of the 6th present came to my office during my absence in attend- 
ance upon the State Teachers' Association, at Jacksonville. 

Wishing you the utmost success, and the final establishment of a great national 
university, I am, truly, 

Albert J. Eussell 
{Suj^erintendent, etc). 



Office of State School Commissioner, 

Atlanta, Ga., January 3, 1896. ■ 

My Dear Sir: Eeplying to your favor of December 30, 1 beg to say that I heartily 

concur in the movement that you are making to establish a national university at 

Washington. I shall be very glad to do whatever lies in my power to encourage this 

movement. 

Yours, very truly, G. E. Glenn, 

State School Commissioner. 



State of Idaho, Department of Public Instruction, 

Boise, Idaho, January 4, 1896. 
Dear Sir: Yours received. You are duly authorized to add my name to the list 
of those who favor the national university. 

Very truly, C. A. Foresman, 

Superintendent of Public Instruction. 
S. Rep. 429 8 



114 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

State of Illinois, Public Instruction, 

SpringfieU, August SI, 1894. 
Deak Sie: I have no doubt that a post-graduate university, such as is described 
in the memorial you kindly sent me, would be the keystone of the educational sys- 
tem of the country. I hope every effort will be put forth to secure the passage of 
the bill now before Congress, and any assistance I may be able to render will be 
cheerfully given. 

Very truly yours, Henry Eaab, 

Su2)erintendent of Puilic Instruction, 



629 West Edwards Street, 

Springfield, III, April 16, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Your favor of April 10 is to hand. 

I am sure there is no reason why I should not support the measure of establishing 
a national university at Washington and continue as a silent member of the com- 
mittee, though I am no longer State superintendent of Illinois. 

I can continue the agitation, as I have done heretofore, by speaking to influential 
men on suitable occasions and be of service in other directions. 
Very truly yours, 

Henry Eaab, 
Ex-Superintendent PitUic Instruction. 



State of Illinois, Public Instruction, 

Springfield, November 23, 1895. 

Dear Sir: Eeplying to your favor, I am deeply impressed with your ''Memorial 
in regard to a national university." 

You are doing the cause of truth and higher learning the greatest service in plead- 
ing and organizing for this university. You must succeed. 

A national university not conflicting with the already existing universities, but 
organized along higher lines of post-graduate work — a university that shall be both 
a laboratory of scientific investigation and an institution for the highest scientific 
instruction — ought to be established at our national capital. 

Your plea is no philosopher's dream. It was conceived by the founders of our 
Republic — by Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison, and Franklin. And down 
through the years since this early conception it has been advocated by statesman, 
scholars, scientist, and teachers. ' 

No other city in the world can offer more opportunities for specialists to enlarge 
the boundaries of human knowledge. 

I will be glad to assist in any way that I can. Please send me another copy of 
your memorial. 

Very respectfully, J. W. Henninger, 

Assistant Superintendent of Public Instruction. 



State of Indiana, Department of Public Instruction, 

Indianapolis, January 15, 1893. 
My Dear Sir : I heartily indorse the national university proposition. 
Yours, very truly, 

Hervey D. Vories {Superintendent). 

State of Indiana, Department op Public Instruction, 

Indianapolis, October 26, 1895. 
My Dear Sir: I have the honor of acknowledging the receipt of your favor of 
October 22, in reference to the establishment of a national post-graduate university 
at Washington. I am interested in this movement, and assure you that I will lend 
you whatever aid I can in this matter. You may count me among its friends. 
Yours, most respectfully, 

D. M. Geicpixg {State Superintendent) i 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 115 

State of Iowa, 
Office of Superintendent Public Instruction, 

Des Moines, October 34, 1894. 
My Dear Sir : Upon the very important question concerning which you write, 
I fully agree with you in the desirability of establishing a strong national university 
at Washington. If established under national auspices for post-graduate work, 
having the support of the General Government, it could in a short time be made to 
exert an immense influence upon the cause of education throughout the nation. It 
should be a university, however, worthy the name and worthy the nation which 
founds it. It should be made the leading university in the Union. How this can be 
done is a matter of great moment, but it can better be discussed by others who are 
more conversant with the conditions and circumstances than I am. 
Yours, very cordially, 

Henry Sarin 
{Superintendent Public Instruction). 



State op Iom^a, 
Office of Superintendent Public Instruction, 

Des Moines, April 16, 1895. 
My Dear Sir: In answer to yours of April 10, I have no objection to the use of 
my name in the list of members of the committee, if it will do the cause any good. 
To my advice, whatever it is worth, and all my personal influence you will be very 
welcome. 

Yours, very cordially, Henry Sabin, 

Superintendent Public Instruction. 



State op Kansas, Executive Department, 
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

Topeha, Kans, December 6, 1894. 
Dear Sir : Your card of recent date is before me, and in reply will say that the 
13,000 teachers of Kansas heartily indorse the establishment of a national university. 
Personally, I have loug felt that such an institution should be established. I trust 
that you will succeed at this session. 

Respectfully, H. N. Gaines 

{State Superintendent Public Instruction)., 



State of Kansas, 
Office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

Topeha, Kans., October 26, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Your communication of 22d instant received. I assure you I am in 
sympathy with the views expressed in your communication in regard to the estab- 
lishment of a national university, and am free to use my influence for whatever it 
may be worth in that direction. The establishment of such an institution would be 
the crowning act in the organization of the school system of our country, and very 
soon, no doubt, it would be the means of holding within our own country multi- 
tudes of students who go abroad to secure opportunities for more advanced work in 
educational lines. You have my hearty support in this matter. 

Respectfully, E. Stanley, 

State Superintendent Public Instruction. 



Department op Public Instruction,- 

Frankfort, Ky., November 12, 1894. 
Dear Sir : I am so pressed by my official work thcit I can not command my time, 
and I have, therefore, been somewhat tardy in expressing myself as to the national 
university. 

At length, however, I have concluded my examination of all the documents sub- 



116 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

mitted to me ; and so important did the matter seem to me from the first that my 
astonishment has grown with every step of the investigation that the recommenda- 
tion of the fathers of the Republic was not long ago carried out. 

There is no tenable ground for a valid argument against the university, while the 
reasons for its establishment are many and cogent. It would be not only " the crown 
and culmination of our whole series" of public schools, but the crowning glory of 
the practical statesmanship of the century now drawing to its close. 
Yours truly, 

Ed Porter Thompson, 
Superintendent of Public Instruction. 



Department of Public Instruction, 

Frankfort, Ky., July 13, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Yours of the 10th instant is received. If named for the place which 
you suggest, I will contribute whatever is in my power to the success of the move- 
ment which you have so much at heart. Having been renominated to my present 
position, I hope to continue in charge of the public schools of this State until Jan- 
uary 1, 1900, in which case I shall be, I trust, of some use in promoting general edu- 
cational interests. At any rate, the most earnest efiforts shall not be wanting. 
Yours truly, 

Ed Porter Thompson, 
{Superintendent of Public Instruction). 



Department of Public Instruction, 

Office of Superintendent, 
Frankfort, Ky., October 10, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I am at your service for all that I can reasonably do to insure the suc- 
cess of the noble enterprise which you have so much at heart — the establishing of 
the university of the United States. 

Yours truly, Ed Porter Thompson. 

{State Superintendent of Public Instruction). 



State of Maine, Educational Department, 

Augusta, October 30, 1895. 
Dear Sir : The plan of having a national post-graduate university meets with my 
most hearty approval. I believe that it will be the means of doing a great deal of 
good, and I shall be glad to promote such an enterprise so far as I can do so con- 
sistently with my other duties. 
Wishing you the largest success in your efforts to carry this matter through, I am, 
Very truly, 

W. W. Stetson 
{State Superintendent, etc.). 



State of Maine, Educational Department, 

Augusta, November 21, 1895. 
Dear Sir : It seems to me that the plan outlined in your circular of November 16 
is the one which is most likely to meet with success. I hope, with the force which 
you have been able to secure in this matter, that you may be able to carry it through 
at the next session of Congress. 

Very truly, W. W. Stetson 

Superintendent, etc.). 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 117 

State Board of Education, 
State Rouse, Boston, December 31, 1891. 
My Dear Sir : I am f«lly in favor of the national university proposition. 
Most truly, yours, 

J. W. Dickinson {Secretary of the Board). 



State Board of Education, 
State House, Bostov, Octoher 24, 1894. 

Dear Sir : I beg your indulgence for not acknowledging at an earlier date the 
receipt of your exhaustive and convincing "Memorial concerning a national uni- 
versity." 

I assure you of my very deep interest in the plan. I see in particular fine possi- 
bilities for the exertion of a potent and .beneficent influence upon all our institutions 
of learning. Why, for instance, may not some of the work that is now done under 
the auspices of the National Educational Association toward securing the proper 
coordination of subjects of study be done more thoroughly and with greater author- 
ity by the proposed university ? 

I should like to write at greater length upon this particular point, but can not do 
so at present. Meanwhile I content myself with expressions of deep interest in the 
plan and earnest hopes for its ultimate realization. 

Very truly yours, Frank A. Hill {Secretary). 



Massachusetts Board op Education, 

Boston, Octoher 10, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : In reply to your postal card of October 8, I beg leave to say that I 
see no reason for changing the attitude of sympathy toward the project of estab- 
lishing the university of the United States which I have heretofore adopted. It has 
my indorsement, and will continue to have it so long as the movement seems to be 
on a high plane. 

Very respectfully, yours, Frank A. Hill, 

Secretary State Board of Education. 



State op Maryland, Education Department, 

Baltimore, November 2, 1894. 
Dear Sir : Eeferring to your postal of October, 1894, I beg to state that it wiU 
give me great pleasure to add anything in my power to the efforts to establish a 
national university in Washington. 

Very respectfully, - E. B. Prettyman 

{State Superintendent of Public Instruction). 



State of Maryland, Education Department, 

Baltimore, December 11, 1894. 
Dear Sir: I beg to state that I am most heartily in favor of the establishment of 
a national post-graduate university in Washington City. This is essential to com- 
plete the systems of public education already established by the different States, and 
to give to American youths the opportunity for full development amid the best 
possible surroundings at the capital of their own country. The free intercourse of 
our best and brightest young men from all parts of the country at the period of 
character molding, mental development, and the establishment of fixed opinions, 
would tend to curb egotism, provincialism, bigotry, and sectionalism. Such univer- 
sity training certainly has for our youth great advantages over that of any foreign 
universities, and would confirm patriotism and strengthen the union among our 
people. 

Very respectfully, E. B. Prettyman 

{State Superintendent, etc.). 



118 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

State of Maryland, Education Department, 

Baltimore, Octoier 9, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Eeferring to yours of October 8, 1895, concerning the university of the 
United States : 

You can depend on my cooperation in aid of the great undertaking in charge of the 
committee of which you are chairman, and I feel quite confident that the measure 
will be supported by the Senators and Eepresentatives from this State. I shall be 
pleased to hear from you as to how I may best aid the cause. 
Very respectfully, 

E. B. Prettyman, 
State Superintendent Puilic Instruction. 



Department of Public Instruction, Michigan, 

Office of Superintendent, 

Lansing, November 5, 1894. 
Dear Sir: Absence from home and press of public business have caused the delay 
in replying to your memorial concerning a national university. The memorial is 
mislaid, so I do not know exactly what you wish me to do concerning it, but I would 
state here that I am most heartily in favor of a post-graduate university in Wash- 
ington. It would certainly be a fitting climax to the great educational systems of 
our States. I wish you hearty success in your enterprise. 
Yours, very truly, 

Henry R. Pattengill 
{Superintendent Public Instruction) . 



Department op Purlic Instruction, Michigan, 

Office of Superintendent, 

Lansing, April 18, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Your letter of the 10th is at hand, and I will hold myself in readiness 
to assist you as much as my time will permit concerning work for a national 
university. 

Yours, very truly, Henry ^R. Pattengill 

Superintendent, etc.). 



State op Missouri, Department of Education, 

City of Jefferson, Decemher 6, 1894. 
My Dear Sir : Having read the report of the committee to establish the Univer- 
sity of the United States, I hereby heartily indorse this great institution for pushing 
investigation beyond the present limits of human knowledge._ The original investi- 
gator needs greater competence and freedom from class drudgery than are afforded 
in the average State university. 

Yours, very truly, L. E. Wolfe, 

(State Superintendent, etc.). 



■ State of Missouri, Department op Education, 

City of Jefferson, December 2, 1895. 
Dear Sir: I have your letter of some time ago in reference to a national post- 
graduate university at Washington. I desire to state that I shall take pleasure in 
rendering you assistance when I am able to do so and that I heartily indorse the 
movement in which you are engaged. 

Very truly yours, John E. Kirk, 

State Superintendent Schools. 



UNIVERSITY OP THE UNITED STATES. 119 

Office State Superintendent of Public Education, 

Jackson, Miss. , Januar}] 2, 1892. 
My Dear Sir: I beg to state that I favor the establishmeut of a natioual univer- 
sity at Washington. 

Yours, truly, J. R. Preston {Siate Superintendent). 



Office State Superintendent of Public Education, 

Jackson, Miss., March 21, 1893. 
My Dear Sir: I regret that the press of business xDrevented. me from replying to 
your favor of March 4. 

I thoroughly believe in the propriety of a national university, and hope to see one 
established in which anyone can learn anything. 

I trust that it may be my pleasure to attend some of the future meetings of the 
committee. 

Yours, truly, J. R. Preston {State Superintendent). 



• The State of Montana, 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

Helena, January 31, 1896. 
Dear Sir: I am a believer in ^'America for Americans." Therefore I say, may we 
have instituted the strongest post-graduate university that is possible and thus give 
our graduates the best advantages at home. 

I remain, most sincerely, E. A. Steere, 

Superintendent of Public Instruction. 



Office State Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

St. Paul, Minn., Septemher 12, 1894. 

Dear Sir: Answering yours of the 27th ultimo, I will say that the plan for estab- 
lishing a post-graduate university at Washington meets my hearty approval. Let 
it once be admitted that such au institution would serve any useful purpose what- 
ever, that its influence would be felt for good in the slightest degree throughout the 
country, and the question is settled. No argument worthy of a moment's considera- 
tion can be brought against it. The expense, when distributed among the 70,000,000 
inhabitants of the United States, would not be of a feather's weight. 

Every movement toward a higher culture and a nobler civilization originated at 
the head of the column gradually extends to the rear. The educational forces are 
drawn forward by the magnetism of those in advance, not pushed along by pike 
poles in the hands of the hindmost. Our colleges, by demanding more and better 
preparation of students applying for admission year by year, are constantly elevat- 
ing the standards of the high schools, which in their turn require more and better 
work in the grammar grades, and this can be accomplished only by a similar move- 
ment in the primary schools. So an advance is scored along the whole line. A great 
post-graduate university at Washington would, if rightly managed, stimulate every 
college in the land to higher achievements, and the circle thus begun would go on 
broadening till the most sequestered rural schools would feel the new-born impulse, 
and even Sleepy Hollow might rub its eyes and ask "What time is it?" 

This is not all. The graduates of this grand university of the United States would 
be in the army of progress as leaders, with influence wider than the continent and 
lasting as humanity. 

One Horace Mann in a community is worth more than a thousand easy-going citi- 
zens whose sympathies and aims, so far as they have any, run in the same channels 
with his, but who are satisfied with simply being "right on all the great moral ques- 
tions of the day." 

Then let us have the university ; let it be begun at once, and when done let it be a 
beacon light for the nations. 

Very truly, W. W. Pendergast 

{Superintendent Public Instruction). 



120 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

1 
'State of Minnesota, Department of Public Instruction, 

St. Paul, Minn., October £1, 1895. 
Dear Sir : It will give me pleasure to urge upon our members of Congress the 
importance to the country of immediate favorable action on the national university 
bill. 

Yours, very truly, W. W. Pendergast. 



State of Nebraska, Department of Public Instruction, 

Lincoln, Septeniber 18, 1894. 

Dear Sir : It affords me pleasure to reply to your favor of August 25 in regard to 
the establishment in the city of Washington of a great national university. 

It may be assumed that in the memorial, the receipt of which I have the honor to 
acknowledge, the term university means university, the culminating and crowning 
educational institution of the nation. 

Such an institution, to subserve its highest purpose, should be, must be, in prox- 
imity to the sources of information ; its students making original research must be 
in the fields to be searched. 

Tbese conditions are present in the national capital in the form of museums, 
libraries, laboratories, art collections ; in the form of departments and bureaus of 
the National Government ; in the form of local institutions ; in the form of learned 
associations; and these are side by side with the hundreds of experts in many 
branches of the Government service. 

While all this is true it concerns the location only of such an institution. 

We should have such an institution, because in this way only can we meet the 
demands made upon our nation by learning; because it would afford an enormous 
incentive to research and consequent scholarship; because it would be a powerful 
factor in crystallizing, or, better, organizing our many educational systems into one 
system; because it would offer to students at home and abroad an opportunity for 
the study of our governmental, our economic, and our social systems, and thus open 
the way for the correction of errors, as well as for the dissemination among the 
peoples of the earth of the excellencies that exist in a "government of the people, 
for the people, and by the people." 

Yours, truly, A. K. Goudy 

{Superintendent Public Instruction). ' 

Teachers' National Fraternal Benefit' Association, 

Lincoln, Nebr., October 11, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Responding to your card of October 8, 1895, permit me to say that you 
may, in the future as in the past, depend upon me for the fullest possible coopera- 
tion in this magnificent undertaking. 

I should be pleased to receive anything that has been published in connection with 
the university enterprise. 

Yours, truly, A. K. Goudy, 

Late State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 



Teachers' National Fraternal Benefit Association, 

Lincoln, Nebr., January 23, 1896. 
Dear Sir : I inclose a copy of resolutions adopted by the unanimous vote of the 
Nebraska State Teachers' Association at its recent annual meeting. They were 
passed as almost the last act of the session, in the presence of an audience of 1,500 
to 1,800 people, gathered from all parts of the State. 

Yours, truly, A. K. Goudy. 

Resolutions adopted at Nebraska State Teachers' Association, 1895. h 

Resolved, That this association reaffirm the unanimous declaration of the Senate 
committee of the last Congress, as follows : That the cause of American learning 
demands such an institution ; that the highest dignity and welfare of the nation 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 121 

require it; that it should be established at the capital of the country; that after a 
delay of one hundred years since it was first proposed and sought to be established 
by the founders of this Government, it would bo unworthy of so great a people to 
wait for a more favorable time in which to meet these high demands. 

That we adopt as our own declaration of the National Educational Association of 
1871, touching the character and scope of such a university, as follows: 

1. That it should be broad enough to embrace every department of science, litera- 
ture, and the arts, and every real profession. 

2. That it should be high enough to supplement the highest existing institutions 
of the country, and to embrace within its fields of instruction the utmost limit of 
human knowledge. 

3. That, in the interest of truth and justice, it should guarantee equal privileges 
to all duly qualified applicants for admission to the courses of instruction, and equal 
rights, as well as the largest freedom, to all earnest investigators in that vast 
domain which lies outside the limits of acknowledged science. 

4. That it should be so constituted and established as to command the hearty sup- 
port of the American people, regardless of section, party, or creed. 

5. That its material resources should be vast enough to enable it not only to furnish, 
and that either freely or at a nominal cost, the best instruction the world can afford, 
but also to provide the best-known facilities for the work of scientific investigation 
together with endowed fellowships and honorary fellowships, open respectively to the 
most meritorious graduates and to such investigators, whether native or foreign, as, 
being candidates therefor, shall have distinguished themselves most in the advance- 
ment of knowledge, 

6. That it should be so coordinated in plan with other institutions of the country 
as not only in no way to conflict with them, but, on the contrary, to become at once 
a potent agency for their improvement and the means of creating a complete, har- 
monious, and efficient system of American education. 



Department of Public Instruction, 

Trenton, JST. J., April 17, 1895. 
Dear Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge your favor of the 10th instant relat- 
ing to legislation for a national university. 

The enterprise has my full sympathy, and you are privileged to make any use of 
my name you may deem proper. 

I have the honor to be, very truly yours, A. B. Poland, 

State Superintendent. 



Department of Public Instruction, 

Trenton, N. J., Octoier 11, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I am glad to know that excellent progress has been made in the efl'ort 
to establish a national university in the city of Washington. If I can be of any 
service to you in aiding the splendiii cause that you have at heart, please command 
my services. 

I have the honor to be, very truly yours, A. B. Poland, 

State Superintendent. 



Department of Public Instruction, 

Albany, N. Y., November 4, 1895. 

Dear Sir : I have your circular letter of October 22, explaining the leading objects 
to be gained by the establishment of a national post-graduate university at Wash- 
ington. I have also received the Senate documents which deal with the subject, and 
have given the matter my attention. The matter had not been called to my notice 
previously. 

I am more than willing to be considered a friend of the project, and will do what- 
ever may lie in my power to promote it. 

As a loyal citizen, and one deeply interested in educational affairs, I would like to 



122 ' UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

see a national university established at the capital of our country on a scale corre- 
sponding to the magnitude of educational work and educational requirements in 
this country. 

Yours, very respectfully, Chari.es E. Skinner. 

State Superintendent. 



• Superintendent op Public Instruction, 

Santa Fe, N. Alex., November 9, 1895. ' 
Dear Sir : I have your favor of recent date relative to the establishment of a 
national post-graduate university at the national capital. This is the first time 
I have heard from you on the subject. In reply, I have to say that the movement 
meets with my approval, and it will afford me pleasure to be of some service to 
you in carrying the idea into execution. You may count upon me to do all in my 
power to aid the cause. If there is anything special that I can do, please command 
me at all times. i 

Very truly yours, Amado Chaves {Superintendent). 



Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

Santa Fe, N. Mex., January 30, 1896. 
Dear Sir: I have your favor of recent date relative to the proposed national uni- 
versity, and in reply I have to say that I have already written to you expressing my 
willingness to aid you all I can with your measure through our Congressional Dele- 
gate. That is all I can do. I have called the attention of Mr. Catron to this matter 
and urged him to aid with all his power to have the bill put through Congress. 
Very truly yours, 

Amado Chaves, Superintendent. 



Superintendent op Public Instruction, 

Baleigh, JSf. C, January 1, 1892. 
Dear Sir : Replying to your question about a national university, I beg to state 
that I am in favor of such an institution. * * * That some States, at least, are 
not financially able to educate their people as the times demand is a fact that can 
not be successfully disputed. 

Very truly, S. M. Finger, 

Superintendent Public Instruction. 



Oppice of Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

Baleigh, N. C, October 22, 1894. 
My Dear Sir: Yours, dated October, 1894, is before me. I had received your 
Senate "Memorial concerning a national university (wholly post-graduate)", with 
"Senate committee's unanimous report on the pending bill," but have been too busy 
in the field lifting up my voice to our people in the "by-ways and hedges," in the 
woods and fields, in the swamps and on the hills, in the valleys and on the mountains 
for better support of our public free schools and for longer terms of the schools of 
the people to give much attention to a great post-graduate national university. If 
the Congress of the United States shall see fit to establish such a university, with 
proper safeguards thrown around it, "Barkis is willin'." 
Very truly yours, 

John C. Scarborough 
(State Superintendent Public Instruction for North Carolina). 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 123 

State of North Dakota, 
Department of Public Instruction, 

Bismarch, Septemher 6, 1894. 
Dear Sir : Yours of the 25th ultimo and a copy of your memorial in regard to the 
national university at hand. I have examined into the subject carefully. I am 
heartily in sympathy with the movement, and trust that you may be able to secure 
the passage of some reasonable bill establishing the university in such a manner as 
will take it wholly out of competition with existing institutions of this country and 
make it of universal value to the nation. 

I believe that the time is fully ripe for the establishment of such an institution. 
More, I believe that the condition of our country iinancially and politically demands 
such an institution. The Northwest is educationally wide awake and ready to aid 
in raising the standard of our national educational character, and will heartily join 
hands with the West, South, and East in aiding toward the proposed university. 
Wishing you success, fraternally yours, 

L. J. ElSENHUTH 

(State Superintendent). 



State of North Dakota, 
Department of Public Instruction, 

Bismarck, October 31, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Your favor of 22d instant was duly received and its contents noted. I 
am pleased to know of the university plans in detail, and willingly signify approval 
of the general proposition, and am pleased to be counted among its friends. 
Yours, respectfully, 

E. F. Bates, 
State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 



State op Nevada, Department of Education, 

Carson City, October 29, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Your letter asking for my support to the proposition of establishing a 
national university is just received, and I hasten to say that I am heartily in sym- 
pathy with the movement, and beg of you to call upon me for any assistance which 
I may render. 

Respectfully yours, H. C. Cutting. 



Territorial Board of Education, 

Guthrie, Okla., January 30, 1896. 
Dear Sir : I very much favor the national xmiversity, and will be very glad to do 
anything in my power to aid in the matter. You can use my name on the committee 
of one hundred. 

Sincerely, E. D. Cameron, 

Superintendent Public Instruction. 



Territorial Board op Education, 

Guthrie, Okla., January 31, 1896. 
Dear Sir : This is to say to the committees of the Congress of the United States, 
through you, that I very much favor a national university, to be called the Univer- 
sity of the United States. I will not attempt to give reasons here for thinking as I 
do on this great question. I like the plan outlined. It is a necessity if we propose 
to keep in the front of the procession among the nations of the world. 
Respectfully, 

E. D. Cameron, 
Superintendent Public Instruction. 



124 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Department op Public Instruction, 

Salem, Oreg., September 3, 1894. 
Dear Sir : Eeturning to this office again to-day I find your favor of August 25 on 
my table. I shall be pleased to assist you in the matter, and on receipt of the Senate 
documents mentioned by you I shall be pleased to examine the same carefully. In 
this matter you have my best wishes. 

I remain, yours, very sincerely, E. B. McElroy, 

State Superintendent Public Instruction. 



Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 
Department of Public Instruction, 

Harrisburg, October 22, 1894. 
Dear Sir: I have not had time to give the subject of a national university the 
attention which it deserves, and do not feel prepared to say anything for or against 
the movement. In a general way I am heartily in favor of any forward movement 
in the cause of higher education. 

Yours, truly, N. C. Schaeffer 

{State Superintendent Public Instruction). 



Philadelphia, Pa., December 15, 1894. 
Dear Sir : I have during the last month paid some attention to the scheme of a 
national university, and the more I study the question the more anxious I feel to see 
it realized. You can count on me for any support which my official position will 
enable me to give. I shall make it a point to speak to members of Congress from 
Pennsylvania as I chance to meet them from time to time. 
Very respectfully yours, 

Nathan C. Schaeffer, 
State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 



State of Ehode Island, 
Office Commissioner of Public Schools, 

Providence, October 23, 1894, 

My Dear Sir: I have read the bill which has been prepared, and so far as I can 
judge therefrom I am heartily in favor of its passage. I have long felt that the 
facilities afforded by our Government for the highest education were very defective ; 
that we should never attain to the position in the world of science and letters to 
which we are really entitled until the National Government made definite and 
adequate provision for the support of our best scholars while engaged in the highest 
realms of knowledge and research. 

It is impossible for one engaged in work of this highest order to either make it 
yield him a livelihood or to turn aside therefrom and earn it. These upper walks 
allow no subordinate subject to divert the mind. 

Such a scheme as that proposed would, it seems to me, tend to correlate and unify 
the work of our institutions of learning throughout the country and offer an incen- 
tive to bright, active, vigorous young men in every State to push their studies to the 
highest attainable point. 

I am confideut it would raise the general scholarship of the whole country. I shall 
hope to see the measure carried through during the next session of Congress. 

Wishing you the fullest success, I have the honor to be, yours, very sincerely, 

Thos. B. Stockwell (Commissioner). 



UNIVERSITY OP THE UNITED STATES. 125 

Office Commissioner Public Schools, 

Providence, B. I., April 19, 1895. 
Dear Sir : In reply to your request of the lOth instant, for permission to use my 
name in making up a committee for the furtherance of the interests of the- national 
university, I would say that if in your judgment it will be of any advantage to the 
cause I have no objection to your so using it. There is unquestionably a field for 
such a university, and I shall be glad to promote its establishment. 

Trusting that your efforts may at no distant day meet with success, I remain, 
yours, very truly, 

Thos. B. Stockw^ell, Commissioner. 



State op South Carolina, Department op Education, 

ColumUa, S. C, October 25, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I beg to acknowledge receipt of your favor of October 22, with inclo- 
sure, and to signify my approval of the general proposition to secure the establish- 
ment of a national post-graduate university at Washington, D. C. 
Yours, very truly, 

W. D. Mayfield, 
State Superintendent of Education. 



State op South Dakota, 
Department of Public Instruction, 

Pierre, S. Dak., January 9, 1892. 
Dear Sir : I am heartily in sympathy with the movement for a national university, 
and hope that we may soon begin to see our way to furnishing our young men with a 
university education in fact as well as in name. Success to your efforts. 
Yours, very truly, 

C. Salmon {Superintendent). 



State op South Dakota, 
Department op Public Instruction, 

Pierre, October 23, 1894. 
Dear Sir : I sincerely hope that Congress may soon be brought to see the impor- 
tance of a national university — one that will in time compare favorably with the 
European universities, and one which, like them, will attract and call together the 
educational leaders of the country. 
I am watching the movement with much interest. 
Yours, very truly, 

CoRTEZ Salmon {Superintendent). 



State op Tennessee, 
Department of Public Instructions, 

Nashville, Tenn., November 13, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Your circular letter of October 22 is before me, and has been given care- 
ful consideration. I have also received Senate documents dealing with the same 
subject. 

I am in hearty sympathy with the measure to establish in the United States a 
national university. Such a university, rightly managed, would stimulate every 
college and higher institution of learning in the land. It would do much for the 
cause of education, and would have a powerful tendency to inculcate a broader 
patriotism. 

Yours, truly, S. G. Gilbreath 

{State Superintendent). 



126 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Department of Education, 

Austin, Tex., Novemler 2, 1894. 
Dear Sir : I certainly wisli much success to the efforts for the establishment of a 
national university. I regret that I have not the time to give the matter a more 
careful investigation at this time. 

Most respectfully, J. M. Carlisle 

{State Superintendent). 



Department of Education, 

Austin, Tex., April 16, 1895. 
Dear Sir: Replying to your letter of the 10th, permit me to express my sincere 
thanks for the compliment paid me in your letter by asking me to serve on your com- 
mittee to present the claims of a national university to the next Congress. I shall 
be pleased to accept such position, with the understanding that I will not be able to 
contribute much active service to the efforts of this committee on account of the 
increasing amount of work to be done in this department. 
Most respectfully, 

J. M. Carlisle, State Superintendent. 



Office of Commissioner of Schools, 

Ogden, Utah, October 28, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Your communication of the 22d instant is received. While my manifold 
duties will not permit me to elaborate my reasons, I can assure you that I heartily 
indorse the movement to establish a national post-graduate university at Washington. 
Respectfully, 

T. B. Lewis, 
Territorial Commissioner of Schools. 



Superintendent of Education, State of Vermont, 

Montpelier, September, 1894. 
Dear Sir: During my absence in August the "memorial" was misplaced, and was 
not discovered till last week, or I should have replied earlier. I meanwhile had 
been waiting for the document, thinking you had not sent it. 
It is a magnificent undertaking, and I heartily hope it will go through. 
Very sincerely, 

Mason S. Stone {Superintendent). 



Superintendent of Education, State of Vermont, 

Montpelier, October 6, 1894. 
Dear Sir : Your communication asking my opinion concerning the establishment 
of a national university at Washington is received, and I take pleasure in giving my 
unqualified and hearty indorsement of the project. 

Such an institution would meet a national want and form a fitting capsheaf to our 
educational system. 

It would be a means for the perpetuation of those ideas distinctly American and 
furnish an opportunity and stimulation to such as desire to pursue post-graduate 
work here in America. 

A progressive nation like our own can not afford to have it said that its young men 
must go to Europe to complete their education. 

We have resources sufficient to support such a university, the advancement of 
learning demands such, and our reputation among the nations of the earth can be 
enhanced in no better way. 

Hoping that the present Congress will be wise in the nation's highest educational 
interests, I remain, very sincerely, yours, 

Mason S. Stone 
{Sv^erintendent of Education, State of Vermont). 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 127 

Superintendent of Education, State of Vermont, 

Montpelier, Octoier 12, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Your card of October 8 is at hand, and I hasten to say that you may 
rely upon me foi any aid that I can consistently render. Congratulating you upon 
the progress made by our cause, I remain, very truly, yours, 

Mason S. Stone. 

Department of Public Instruction, 

Superintendent's Office, 
Bichmond, Va., November 4, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Pressing official duties have prevented an earlier answer to your favor 
of 22d ultimo. 

I can only say in reply to it, I am heartily in favor of the establishment of a 
"national post-graduate university at Washington," and will cheerfully do what I 
can to further the enterprise. 

Very respectfully, John E. M asset 

{Ex-Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia, Superintendent of Public Instruction), 



Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

State op Washington, 
Olympia, Wash., September 15, 1894. 
My Dear Sir: I have long felt a deep interest in the proposition to found a 
national university at our Federal capital, as suggested by Washington and since 
urged by many of our distinguished statesmen and scholars, and have at times 
grown almost impatient with the delay in consummating this grand and patriotic 
conception. * Such a university should stand for all that is modern and scholarly 
throughout the world; but it should especially emphasize what is distinctively 
American, and should afford foreign students the opj)ortunity of studying American 
institutions on their native soil. 

I should hardly urge it from the standpoint of the economist as a means of keep- 
ing our students at home and offering them all the opportunities available at foreign 
universities, for I believe it is wise for the student to go abroad; but I urge it most 
earnestly as a competitor of the best foreign universities for the patronage of stu- 
dents from every nation. It should be the common opinion in all foreign countries 
within the next fifty years that their scholars could lay no claim to an adequate 
knowledge of American institutions unless they have studied in the ''University of 
the United States." The fostering of such a sentiment at home and abroad is 
necessary to the greatness of American scholarship and American institutions. 
Very truly yours, 

C. W. Bean 
{Superintendent Public Instruction). 



State of West Virginia, Department of Free Schools, 

Charleston, January 1, 1896. 
Dear Sir : Replying to your esteemed favor of the 30th ultimo, I have to say that 
you have authority to enter my name among the list of those desiring to promote 
the interest of the national university of the United States. I supposed that my 
name had been placed in this connection. 

Yorurs, most obediently, Virgil A. Lewis, 

State Superintendent Free Schools. 



Office Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

Cheyenne, Wyo., January 6, 1896. 
Dear Sir : I have your letter of December 30, and would be very glad to have you 
add my name to those who are in favor of a national university, as it is something 
I would very much like to see established. 

Very truly yours, E. Reel {State Superintendent.) 



LETTERS FROM HEADS OF SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS AND 
BUREAUS OF THE GOVERNMENT. 



Smithsonian Institution, 

Washington, D. C, March 25, 1895. 
Dear Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of March 21, 
with reference to the plan for the national university which has been laid before 
Congress; and while I regret to find that my official engagements will prevent me 
from giving the subject the attention that I desire, I have asked Dr. Thomas Wilson, 
of the Smithsonian Institution, who is much interested in the subject, to represent 
me in discussing the matter when you may find it convenient to call. 
With kind regards, very truly yours, 

S. P. Langley, Secretary. 



Smithsonian Institution, 

Washington, D. C, April 13, 1S95. 
Sir: In response to your request for the use of my name on the committee of one 
hundred for the furtherance of the establishment of a national university at Wash- 
ington, I take pleasure in authorizing you to place my name on the committee. 
Very respectfully yours, 

S. P. Langley. 



[The deep interest of Dr. G. Browne Goode, assistant secretary of the Smithsonian 
Institution, in charge of the National Museum, and his broad views on the subject of 
the university are manifest in many ways. For example, in his able address on '' The 
nation's debt of honor," before the late Pan-Eepublic Congress of 1891, wherein, 
among other things, he said :] 

Mr. President: Congress has, however, failed to extend its direct patronage to 
any educational enterprise of the highest grade. Unlike most of the Governments 
of the Old World, it supports no faculties of learned men whose duty it is to discover 
truth and give it to the world. It has not yet provided a national university so 
excellent that it is not necessary, in the language of Washington, ''for the youth of 
the United States to migrate to foreign countries in order to acquire the higher 
branches of education." While it has established a great system of schools under 
the patronage of the several States, it has failed to provide a central institution 
which shall serve as a model for all the others, train teachers for their faculties, 
afford their scholars post-graduate instruction, and add character and dignity, intel- 
lectual and moral, to the nation's capital. * * * 

The sum of $4,401,000 [amount of Washington's bequest with compound interest 
to the present time], if appropriated for this purpose by Congress, and placed in the 
Treasury of the Uni^ted States, there to remain paying interest at 6 per cent, would 
yield over $264,000 each year, a sum that would provide for many professorships, 
lectureships and scholarships, and fellowships, as well as for the current expenses 
of several seminaries or colleges. Private gifts wo-uld in time be added in large 
amounts, and Congress would of course erect such buildings as from time to time 
were found necessary. 

S. Eep. 429 9 . 129 i 



130 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

United States Naval Observatory, Georgetown Heights, 
TrusMn(jto7i, n. C, October 24, 1895. 
Dear Sir: Please accept my thanks for the "Memorial iu regard to a national 
university," referred to in your letter of the 19th instant. 

An institution proposed by Washington and indorsed by the most distinguished 
men of his own and following generations is well worthy of the intelligent eftbrts 
now being made to found it upon a secure basis. 

The plan of the committee of which you are the chairman will, if adoi^ted, i)lace 
the institution upon the high plane that it should occupy. 

Referring to the last paragraph of your letter, I shall deem it an honor to be 
enrolled among the supporters of this plan, and shall cheerfully lend my feeble and 
humble efforts to its success. 

Very respectfully, R. L. Phythian, 

Commodore U. S. N., Su^jerintendent of Naval Observatory. 



Department of the Interior, 

United States Geological Survey, 

Washington, D. C, November 2, 1S94. 
Dear Sir : Yours of November 1 relating to the establishment of a national uni- 
versity at Washington received. 

I will bring the matter up before the council of the Geological Society of Wash- 
ington. I feel a strong interest in the higher education, and shall be ha]jpy to do 
anything in my power to advance it. 
I shall read the pamphlets you mention when they come to hand. 

Yours, very truly, Chas. D. Walcott 

{Director of the Geological Survey), 



Department of the Interior, 

United States Geological Survey, 

Washington, D. C, December 20, 1894. 
Dear Sir: I fully believe in establishing such a university in the interest of 
higher education, and I cordially indorse the statements made by the late President 
James C. Welling, printed on pages 95-97 of your memorial, on the subject. The 
statements and views expressed in the memorial are so exhaustive and comprehen- 
sive that I do not know that I could add to them, except' to record my personal 
approval of the movement. 

Yours, very truly, Chas. D. Walcott. 

[The views of the late Dr. James C. Welling, for a long time president of the 
Columbia University, District of Columbia, referred to, are here quoted:] 

"Such a university as I here prefigure would come into no rivalry with any exist- 
ing institution under the control of any denomination. It would aim to be the 
crown and culmination of our State institutions, borrowing graduates from them 
and repaying its debt by contributing in turn the insjjiration of high educational 
standards, and helping also in its measure to train the experts, * * * who should 
elsewhere strive to keep alive the traditions of a jjrogressive scholarship. * * * 
It is not enough that our colleges should perpetuate and transmit the existing sum 
of human knowledge. We must have our workeTs on the boundaries of a progress- 
ive knowledge if we are to establish our hold on the directive forces of modern 
society." 



United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, 

Washington, D. C, December 24, 1891. 
Dear Sir : I hope you will not grow weary in pushing this matter. 
Yours, faithfully, 

T. C. Mendenhall 
{As Superintendent of United States Coast and Geodetic Survey). 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 131 

United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, 

Washington, D. C, October 26, 1S95. 
My Dear Sir : I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 15th instant, 
to which I have given careful attention. 

You seem to have covered the whole ground, and I do not think your plan can be 
improved or even modified to advantage. 

I shall always be glad to aid you in every possible way in carrying out your plans 
to a successful result. 

Yours, very respectfully, W. W. Duffield, 

Suxjerintendcnt. 



Washington, D. C, March 10, 1896. 
My Dear Sir: Your i)lan for organizing a national university meets with my 
hearty approval. A national school designed j)rimarily for training men in scientific 
research is now the great need of American education. There are at the seat of 
Government libraries, museums, and ap^iaratus for research necessary to the use of 
such an institution. It yet needs an organization of personnel and the halls in which 
instructors and pupils may meet. 

I am, yours, cordially, J. W. Powell 

{Director of the Bureau of Ethnology). 



Department of Agriculture, Weather Bureau, 

Washington, D. C, December 9, 1891. 
My Dear Sir : I have looked over the summary with very great interest. Your 
plan is a broad one, and I do not know that I have any suggestions to make at jires- 
ent. What I said to you the other day, of course, contemplated the possibility of 
using the university for professional education. This is not properly in applied 
science, but in theoretical science. 
I will be glad to discuss the matter further with you when I see you again. 
Very truly yours, 

Mark W. Harrington 
{As Chief of Weather Bureau). 



Interstate Commerce Commission, 

Washington, Noveniber 26, 1893. 

Dear Sir : Please accept my thanks for the copy of your memorial in regard to a 

national university. Without having given the subject studied investigation or 

consideration, it has always awakened feelings of pride and patriotism in my heart, 

and I am very glad that it has the benefit of your vigorous and intelligent support. 

Again thanking you, I am, very truly, yours, 

W. G. Veazey {Commissioner), 



1620 P Street, 
Washington, D. C, December 6, 1894. 
My Dear Sir : Whenever there is anything to be done, please let me know the 
time and place, and I will be on hand if possible. Glad the project is still alive. 
Very sincerely yours, 

S. Newcomb 
{Superintendent Nautical Almanac). 



132* UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Department of Labor, 
Washington, B. C, November 8, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I am in receipt of your communication of the 7th instant, relative to 
the establishment of a national post-graduate university at Washington, and in 
reply to your inquiry I would say that I have always been in favor of the establish- 
ment of such a university. You are at liberty, therefore, to count me as one among 
its friends. 

I am, respectfully, Carroll D. Wright 

{Commisaioner). 



Smithsonian Institution, Department of Entomology, 

Washington, December 11, 1894. 
My Dear Governor : Nothing that I could say would add weight to the argu- 
ments which you have already mustered in favor of the project, and I do sincerely 
hope that your efforts may soon bear fruit, and that Congress may pass the bill now 
before it, or some similar bill, in order that so worthy a project may at once be 
started on its useful career. There is already much of the material centered in the 
national capital necessary to the founding of such a national educational institu- 
tion, and I can conceive of nothing that would have a more marked and beneficial 
influence on our future national life than such an institution, providing its founda- 
tion be well laid and its future substantially guaranteed. 
Believe me, my dear Governor, yours, sincerely, 

C. V. UiuEY {Curator, etc.). 



2115 Chestnut Street, 
Philadelphia, Pa. , November 11, 1895. 
My Dear Sir: Your letter of November 6, with inclosure, is received. You may 
certainly count me as one of the friends of the proposed national university, and you 
are authorized to add my name to your list of indorsers if you think it worth while 
to do so. 

Very truly yours, J. S, Billings 

{Late Superintendent of Army Medical Museum). 



2115 Chestnut Street, 
Philadelphia, November S5, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I have your note of the 22d instant, with inclosures, for which I am 
much obliged. I have been retired from the Army at my own request, and have 
accepted the position of professor of hygiene and director of the laboratory of 
hygiene in the University of Pennsylvania. I am much interested in your plan for a 
national university, and shall be glad to do what I can to call attention to the need 
of action by Congress in the matter. 

Very sincerely yours, John S. Billings 

{Late Superintendent of Army Medical Museum), 



LETTERS FROM HEADS OF NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, 
SCIENTIFIC AND PATRIOTIC. 



American Philosophical Society, 

Philadelphia, February 1, 1895. 
Sir : Your esteemed favor of January 8, 1895, addressed to Dr. Frederick Fraley, 
president of the American Philosophical Society, was duly received by him, and, 
with the accompanying documents, was laid before the society at its next regular 
meeting, and by it referred to the secretaries for reply. 

We have the honor to assure you that the society heartily sympathizes in all plans 
looking toward the promotion and dissemination of useful knowledge. The pro- 
posed national university, if established on sound and judicious principles, would 
undoubtedly contribute potently to this end ; and such a, scheme therefore merits 
the encouragement and support of all friends of the higher education. 
We remain, most respectfully, yours, 

George F. Barker, 
D. G. Brinton, 
George H. Horn, 

Secretaries. 



American Institute of Civics, 

Neio York, April 19, 1893. 
Dear Sir: I was glad to receive your courteous favor of March 19, with the 
accompanying documents. I am much interested in your efforts to promote the 
establishment of a national university, and trust that they will be successful. The 
great work in which the institute is engaged ought to be in some way allied with 
such an institution as you seek to establish. National, educational, and devoted 
solely to the promotion of the highest interests of government and citizenship, with- 
out regard to party, creed, or class, it would seem that it should be under the foster- 
ing care of an institution founded under the auspices of government, at the nation's 
capital, and intended to qualify American youth for the noblest exercise of their 
abilities and privileges as American citizens. Whether or not the realization of your 
plans and the realization of mine can be successfully related to each other, I shall 
be glad to do anything in my power to assist in your noble undertaking. 
With highest respect, I am, very truly, yours, 

H. R. Waite, President. 



American Institute op Civics, 

Neiv York, December 20, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Replying to your favor of December 18, permit me to say that if the 
plans which you seek to realize are such as I understand them to be, it will give me 
pleasure to serve as a member of the executive council of the provisional committee 
of the projected university of the United States. 

I have only time at this moment to make this brief reply to your letter. A little 
later, I shall hope to correspond with you more fully as to present plans and the 
promise of success which attend your efforts. 

With regards, very sincerely yours, H. R. Waite {President). 

133 



134 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Wharton School of Finance and Economy, 

University op Pennsylvania, 

PMladelpliia, April 18, 189S. 
My Dear Sir : In answer to your favor of the 17tli instant, I beg to say that I know 
no one thing in American etlncation which is more important than the establishment 
of a national university at Washington, and I shoukl be glad to aid this movement 
in any way possible. 

Very truly yours, Edmund J. James 

{President). 



American Academy of Political and Social Science, 

Philadelphia, December S, 1894. 
Dear Sir : I am much interested in the work of the committee on the nationa 
university, of which you are chairman. I hope that you will send me whatever 
information you may have about the great enterprise. Command my services to the 
fullest extent in this matter. 

Very truly yours, Edmund J. James 

{President, etc.). 



University of Pennsylvania, 

Philadelphia, November IS, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : Your letter was received this morning. I am glad to hear that 
you are going to take up the urgent prosecution of the national university idea in 
the new Congress. 

Very truly yours, Edmund J. James 

{As President American Academy of Political and Social Science). 



Philadelphia, Novem.her S7, 1894. 
Dear Sir: The project of establishing a national university at Washington has 
interested mo for years, but I never saw any plan proposed that did not have serious 
objections or manifest shortcomings. I examined, therefore, your memorial, expect- 
ing to find that its scheme, too, would be open to like unfavorable criticism; and 
was agreeably surprised to perceive that you had avoided the objectionable features 
visible in others and present a practical, beneficent, and truly liberal outline which, 
if filled in and carried out in the same spirit, will endow our land with an institution 
which will prove an advantage and a glory to it for indefinite generations. Wishing 
your effort every success, I remain. 

Very truly yours, D. G. Brinton 

{President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, etc.). 



Philadelphia, April 13, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Eepl'ylng to yours of the 10th, I beg to say I am quite willing that 
my name should be added to the national committee on the university, as proposed. 
Yours, very respectfully, 

D. G. Brinton 
{Late President American Association for the Advancement of Science). 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 185 

Association of American Agricultural Colleges 

and exteriment stations, 
Lewinsville, Fairfax County, Va., June 25, 1S95. 
Dear Sir: Absence iu the AVest temporarily, as per printing above, acconnts for 
my failure to promptly receive and respond to your letter dated April 10, 1895. 

Let me now reassure you of my interest in the important movement under your 
energetic and able leadersliij). I shall be only too glad to follo-w and cooperate in 
any way I can, and feel sure that the institutions, all beneficiaries of the National 
Government, which constitute the membership of the association above indicated, 
would willingly authorize me to speak for them collectively. (I have, however, no 
right to do this as yet.) 

If not too late I should be pleased to be included in the membership of your enlarged 
committee of promotion, as you kindly suggest, and, as I am now to be in or near 
Washington City nearly all the time, you may freely call upon me for any assistance 
I can render. 

Very respectfully yours, Henry E . Alvord 

{As President of Association). 



Association of American Agricultural Collegjes 

AND Experiment Stations, 
LewiiisviUe, Fairfax County, Va., January 16, 1895. 

Dear Sir : Please accept my thanks for your letters of December 20 and Janu- 
ary 8, and the documents which accompanied them. 

The project for the establishment of the university of the United States has 
always been of interest to me, and since its recent revival I have said and done the 
little I could in its behalf. I trust that a realization of the long-cherished desires 
of the friends of this great enterprise is near at hand. 

Through the wise policy of the Federal Government in devoting a portion of the 
proceeds of public lands to education, endowments for research and for higher 
instruction have been established in every State. Although properly under local 
control and upon broad and elastic bases, which enable them to be adapted to local 
needs and conditions, these institutions constitute a national system, which still 
lacks a finish and head. They are like the States without the Union. The proposed 
university, its sphere and relations carefully defined, offers a most appropriate and 
important finish to the provisions for higher education already made by the Govern- 
ment of the United States. 

You and your active colaborers deserve the best wishes and the heartiest coopera. 
tion on the part of all friends of education throughout the country I am sure you 
can especially depend for such aid as lies in their power iipon those connected with 
the existing institutions based upon grants of public land and its proceeds. These 
institutions keenly feel the need of a closer bond of union and central guide, such 
as would be admirably supplied by the university of the United States. 
Very truly yours, 

Henry E. Alvord {President). 



31 Nassau Street, New York, August 5, 1895. 
My Dear Sir: Your esteemed favor of Saturday last is at hand. 
You may count on my friendly cooperation in any direction in my power in your 
noble efforts. 

When the general society meets I shall lay the matter, D. V., before them. 
I am, dear sir, with sentiments of respect, faithfully yours, 

Asa Bird Gardiner, 
General Secretary of the Society of the Cincinnati. 



136 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Society op the Cincinnati, 

New York, August 2, 1895. 
Mr Dear Sir : Your esteemed favor of yesterday is at hand. You have my most 
cordial interest in your i^roposed educational work. Above all things I hope there 
will be a properly endowed chair of American history- a subject I have given much 
attention to. When I was professor of law at the United States Military Academy, 
West Point, I always found that references to incidents of American history were 
greedily listened to by the cadets. 

Very truly yours, Asa Bird Gardiner, 

General Secretary, 



General Society Sons of the Eevolution, 

Washington, D. C, December IS, 1894. 
My Dear Sir : Your valued favor of November 9, with pamphlet, is at hand. I 
have read both with great interest, and heartily approve of your undertaking. 
Yours, very faithfully, 

James Martemis Montgomery, 

General Secretary. 

fFor letters of Ex-Governor John Lee Carroll, LL. D., of Maryland, General Presi- 
dent of Sous of the Eevolution, and of Gen. Horace Porter, LL. D., President-General 
of Sons of American Revolution, see page 65.] 



LETTERS FROM OTHER EMINENT CITIZENS IN OFFICIAL AND 
PRIVATE LIFE. 



The Concord, 
Washington, D. C, Decemier 5, 1894. 

My Dear Sir : Careful observation of educational thought in this country for a 
quarter of a century convinces me that its natural outcome is to be found in the reali- 
zation of the idea of a national university sustained by Government patronage at the 
capital of the nation, outranking all others in the land, so earnestly urged by Wash- 
ington and his compeers. Many have feared the injurious effects of a political 
capital upon a seat of learning located near it. This fear led some to oppose the 
establishment of the University of Berlin; but experience has proved that the uni- 
versity was not injured, and the capital was benefited. 

Intelligence and virtue joined must indeed be the corner stone of our free institu- 
tions, and their influence must pervade them from foundation to capstone. The more 
their influence is concentrated upon the management of public affairs, the greater the 
safeguards against ignorance and corruption, and the more likely the improvement 
of the public service. The greatest republic has need of, and should have at com- 
mand, the conditions favorable to the highest learning. 

The selection of Washington as the seat for great universities under private control 
points to a growing appreciation of the fact that nowhere else are such favorable con- 
ditions possible. The Senate bill does not antagonize them, but would crown them 
with higher opportunities. Besides, the most remote district school needs, and would 
be benefited by, the university proposed, and the maintenance at Washington of the 
grandest university of the world would serve to answer the legitimate demand of the 
aspiring peoples of the earth that our institutions of learning should afford oppor- 
tunities for research and instruction not excelled under any other form of government. 
Very respectfully yours, etc., 

John Eaton 
{Former United States Commissioner of Education). 



Chicago, Novemler 3, 1894. 
My Dear Sir : I sincerely hope that the effort to secure the establishment by Con- 
gress of a national post-graduate university at Washington may be crowned with 
speedy success. Such a university will be the noble and worthy representative of 
the nation in the republic of letters and in the growing empire of science. It will 
give a new luster to our national capital and a new glory to our national name. I 
believe that it will stimulate investigation and heighten scholarship and quicken 
educational interest and enthusiasm throughout the country. 
With much regard, I remain, yours, cordially, 

John H. Barrows 
{President Late World's Parliament of Religions). 



First Presbyterian Church, 

Chicago, III., April 15, 1895. 
My Dear Sir: Your letters of April 10 and'll are received. Did you know that 
Chauncey M. Depew closed an address before the Chicago University recently with 
an earnest plea for an international university at Washington? 
Yours, very truly, 

John Henry Barrows 
{Lately President World's Congress of Religions). 
[See p. 138.] 137 



li^8 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

[The following is a single passage from the above-mentioned address of Hon. 
Cliauncey M. DepeW; LL. D,, of New York:] 

''It would be a long step forward in popularizing higher education if the Govern- 
ment should establish at Washington a great national university. As at Oxford or 
at Cambridge there are historic colleges with foundations running for hundreds of 
years, each having its own traditions^ but all part of the university, so in every 
State there would be colleges, each having its own traditions, and yet all of them 
belonging to the grand university which will rejjresent the culture of the New 
World — the university of the United States." 



Geological Survey of Alabama, 

University, Ala., April 15, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I have received your circular of April 10, and send j^ou herewith per- 
mission to use my name in connection with the national committee, as described in 
that circular. I feel much interest in the success of the undertaking. 
Yours, very truly, 

Eugene A. Smith 

{State Geologist). 



Episcopal Residence, 1110 Madison Avenue, 

Baltimore, August 31, 1892. 
Dear Sir : Without i)ledging myself to all the details, I am warmly in favor of the 
general proposition of establishing a national university in the city of Washington, 
Y^ours, truly, 

William Paret, Bislio]} of Maryland. 



Cincinnati Society of Natural History, 

Cincinnati, January 21, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Your favor of the 8th instant, addressed to my predecessor, has been 
put in my hands for attention. I am sure that all patriotic citizens, and especially 
those who are interested in the promotion of science, will look Avith great satisfaction 
upon the establishment of a national university in the capital city of the nation. 

I trust that the organization will carefully guard agaiust the greatest peril that 
can menace the success of such an institution — the entrance in its management of 
partisan i>olitics or any politics whatsoever. 

Wishing yon the greatest success in your work, I am yours, truly, 

Davis L. James, 
President Cincinnati Society Natural History, 



Cincinnati Society of Natural History, 

Cincinnati, April 20, 1895. 
Dear Sir : In answer to your favor of the 10th instant, allow me to say that I shall 
he honored by having my name included in your national committee on the univer- 
sity of the United States, and shall be pleased to do anything in my power to promote 
the plan of its establishment. 

Very truly, Davis L. James, 

President Cincinnati Society Natural History. 



The Academy op Science of St. Louis, 

St. Louis, January 5, 1892. 
Dear Sir : Eesponding to your note, I hasten to reply that I favor the idea of 
establishing a national university at AVashington, if it is properly organized. 
Very truly yours, 

Francis E. Nipher {President). 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 139 

Twin Oaks, May IS, 1895. 
Dear Sir: I am in receipt of your favor of tlie lltli instant, and have read your 
paper with much interest. I believe in the necessity of a national iiniversity, as you 
well know, and am willing to help on the movement by every means in my power. 

Gardiner ■O. Hubbard 
{President National Geographic Society). 



University of State op New York, New York State Museum, 

Alhany, January 19, 1892. 
Dear Sir: 1 have received your favor of the 9th referring to your plan of a great 
national university. I need only reply that you are quite at liberty to use my name 
in the publication which you propose. 

Very truly yours, James Hall, State Geologist. 



Geological Survey op Alabama, 

University, Ala., November 5, 1895. 
Dear Sir: Your communication of the 26th of October has been received. Your 
proposition to create an executive council and the manner of creating it meet my 
hearty approval. I believe such a body of men Avould be in position to do much 
toward promoting the success of the measure. Dr. Jones, president of this univer- 
sity, will write to you immediately in regard to the matters referred to in your 
letters, as he has great interest therein. 

Yours, very truly, Eugene A. Smith {State Geologist). 



Little Eock, Ark., January 15, 1894. 
Dear Sir : Most decidedly you may count me among the friends of the national 
university proposition. 

Very truly yours, J. C. Branner {State Geologist). 



Geological and Natural PIistory Survey of Minnesota, 

Minneapolis, Minn., January 10, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : I have received the i:)rinted copies of the addresses of Senator Hun- 
ton, of Virginia, and of Senator Vilas, of Wisconsin, for which please accept my 
thanks. I have read of the movement before and am glad of the more full informa- 
tion respecting it. I am heartily in sym^iathy with the project, as it appears in these 
addresses and in the communications printed in connection therewith, and I shall be 
glad to cooperate in any way that may be in my power to secure the desired end. 
Without time now to go into the detailed statement of reasons, accept my personal 
assurance. 

Very cordially yours, 

N. H. WiNCHELL, State Geologist. 



State op Missouri, Bureau op Geology and Mines, 

Jefferson City, January 12, 1894. 
My Dear Sir : I trust that there will be established at the capital of the nation 
a national university supported liberally by the Federal Government. The facilities 
of Washington for post-graduate work and original investigation are so superior that 
it becomes the duty of the nation to maintain an institution for advanced study. I 
sincerely hope that the bill will pass and become a law. 
Cordially yours, 

Charles R. Keyes {State Geologist). 



140 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Office of Custodian of American History, 
2S02 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, Pa., October 20, 1891. 

Dear Doctok : If Washington left in his will the sum of £5,000 to found a national 
university why is not that institution now established? I have met with some men 
who are deeply interested in the subject of the erection of a national university at 
Washington, and the organizing of a distinctly national system of education that 
would be the natural outcome of such an institution. 

If a national university is established one of the most important schools to be 
erected would be that of "Americana." The study of civics has been largely omit 
ted in our schools and colleges, and where political economy has entered into the 
curriculum it has been generally considered not from a purely American standpoint, 
but usually from the rulings and ideas of Europe, which are more monarchical than 
republican. Then, too, the teaching has been for the aid of the ruler, while it ought 
to be for the instruction of the voter first, leaving the study of governmental and 
diplomatic service as secondary. We have a distinctly American political economy, 
and it is yet to be fully developed. American history is but little known. The 
schools learn something of English history and the English constitution, but practi- 
cally American history and American constitutional law are known by few who 
have made these studies a specialty. We have a vast country and our post-office 
reaches to every nook and corner, but the boy of 12 is supposed to have learned all 
the geography there is for him to know. It seems to me that our countrymen ought 
to be informed respecting all the various parts of our land — its minerals, its produc- 
tions, its facilities for transportation, and all the other various things that make the 
United States one of the richest, if not the richest, lands of the earth. We have an 
interstate commerce, and we will soon have a reciprocal interchange of commodities 
with the other remaining American States that are not of our Union. The student 
of "Americana" ought to be instructed in all the matters relating to our own and 
our neighbors' public affairs, and be thoroughly informed respecting everything that 
relates in any way to the American continent, its business, its social life, its history, 
its geography, its productions, and its laws. Our country needs such a school and 
a class of men that such a school will graduate. 

Henry Baldwin 
{Custodian of American History). 

Dr. G. Brown Goode, 

Smithsonian Institution. 



Office of Custodian of American History, 

New Haven, Conn., December 13, 1894. 
Dear Sir: I am exceedingly anxious that the bill before Congress for the national 
university shall meet with favor. I believe that it is a necessity for the faithful edu- 
cation of the community, and I see no other way to establish in our country a uni- 
form educational system than by adopting some method in this direction. I am glad 
to learn from your letter that there is some hope of a vote being reached in the Sen- 
ate respecting the national university, and I trust that the House will also meet the 
matter with favor. 

Very sincerely yours, Henry Baldwin, 

Custodian of American History. 



Office of Custodian of American History, 

New Haven, Conn., March, 11, 1896. 
My Dear Sir : While there are very many arguments to be adduced in support of 
the national university proposition, I prefer to view it from the standpoint of 
freedom. 

The United States is to-day the home of liberty. We enjoy freedom as no other 
neople. This freedom was obtained by the Revolutionary war and the war of 1812, 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 141 

and secured by the result of the civil strife of 1861-1865. It cost mucn. It remains 
with us to be maintained. It is to us worth all it cost, and should be esteemed of 
equal value to the many people outside of our boundaries who live upon our con- 
tinent and the adjacent islands. Having and enjoying it, we should as far as pos- 
sible secure it to the Latin Republics. They will be glad to accept such help as we 
are able to offer. We are before the nations as a lighted candle in a candlestick and 
''should so let our light shine that others seeing our good works may also glorify 
God. " 

We have not only liberty but extent of territory and a vast population. What 
we need is universal intelligence and means of the highest culture. We are just 
now in a ripe condition for the introduction of a new feature. We ought to have in 
our own land the most learned and the most practical men of the world. We have 
some such, but are not yet in a position to lead. 

It is not enough that we are foremost in freedom. We can and should also lead in 
education, in science, in the highest learning as well. 

The university of the United States ought to be distinctly and thoroughly Ameri- 
can. The very nature of its institution by the Government will make it so. It will 
teach Americanism from a standpoint that is not partisan, or sectional, or sectarian. 
It can not be led by any one society, organization, clique, or party, but must be 
national in its character, practical in its scope, beneficent in its influence — a sun and 
shield for all that is best and dearest in the Government bequeathed to us by our 
fathers. 

The university of the United States should be : 

(1) The most powerful factor in preserving the institutions of liberty. 

(2) It should teach the American people the value of liberty. 

(3) It should and would become a powerful factor in removing all sectional feeling 
among our people ; make us one people, and forever obliterate the political signifi- 
cance of North, South, East, and West. We are, and it should come to be understood 
that we are, one people — the American people. 

(4) It should aid Congress and the Executive in upholding liberty at home and in 
protecting it in the hands of the feebler nations of this continent. 

(5) It should help to make the American people the most cultivated and most 
useful of the nations. 

It will cost us less to maintain liberty through the peaceful agency of instruction, 
authoritative and powerful to gui-de and restrain, than by the clash of armies. 

We want patriots fully competent to fight the battles of peace, and we must have 
a national university as the best means of producing them. 

Sincerely yours, Henry Baldwin. 



39 Highland Street, Boxbury, Mass., January 1, 1892. 
My Dear Sir : I certainly am very much interested in the plan for the national 
university, and I think, if it is wisely pressed, something important may come of it. 
Truly yours, 

Edward Everett Hale. 
i 

New York, December 20, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Your letter of the 14th came duly to hand, but in some way or other 
was mislaid. 

I am quite willing to help you if I can about the university. You can use my 
name if you like if this letter does not reach you at too late a date. 

Truly yours, Cephas Brainerd. ' 



Newport, R. I., August 20, 1891. 
Dear Sir : In reply to yours of the 12th instant, allow me to ask that my name 
be appended to the recommendation for the national university. 

Very truly yours, i 

Thomas M. Clark {BisJio}> of Rhode Island), 



142 UNIVEESITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Tub Spirit of '76, Publication Office, 

New York, August 24, 1895. 
Dear Sir: I was glad to hear from and will be pleased to serve you if possible. 
Now, as to the university matter, I want to know: 

1. What actually became of the bequest of Washington, and who (by name) were 
the custodians of the bonds? 

2. Did the Virginia Society of the Cincinnati turn over $40,000 (or any amount) to 
this university fund; if so, where is it now? "These are important iioints, and I 
exceedingly desire to learn something about them, and as soon as possible. 

If you can do nothing, can you refer to any other person who is likely to know 
anything about these things? I will appreciate a reply. 

Yours, respectfully, A. H. Brearley. 

Pan-Eepublic Congress Organizing Committee, 

Newark, N. J., Novemler S9, 1S92. 
My Dear Governor: It is a great privilege to be permitted to contribute the 
lirst dollar to tliat which, next to the United States of America, will be the grandest 
monument to the memory of George Washington. As chairman of the organizing 
committee of the Human Freedom League I desire to contribute the second, which 
I inclose. It may be possible that the small contributions of the many will go 
further m accomplishing the success of the great thought to which you have given 
your life than the fewer larger contributions from the very rich. 
Sincerely yours, 

William O. McDowell. 



Newark, N. J., March, 21, 1893. 
My Dear Governor Hoyt : I am so glad to know that things are moving satis- 
factorily in the university matter. 

Sincerely yours, W. O. McDowell 



Geological Survey of Alabama, 

University, Ala., February 6, 1S95. 
Dear Sir: I have received your letter of the 5th January relative to the national 
university. The proposition to establish a national university for the United States, 
as set forth in your memorial and the accompanying x^apers, meets my hearty approval, 
and I trust that Congress will soon take such action as will insure the success of the 
undertaking. 

Yours, very truly, Eugene A. Smith 

{State Geologist). 



Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Executive Department, 

Boston, September 13, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Governor Greenhalge is in receipt of your letter of the 4th instant in 
regard to the establishment of a national university at Washington, also public docu- 
ments accompanying the same, and h*is excellency directs me to inform you that you 
are at liberty to count him as one of the friends of the university. 
Yours, truly, 

H. A. Thomas, Private Secretary. 



State of Connecticut, Executive Department, 

Hartford, October 4, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Eeferring to your letter of September 4, the governor has j ust returned 
from a prolonged absence from the State and directs me to say he heartily approves 
the general proposition set forth in your letter, and believes that an institution 
founded on the basis proposed will be of great value in many ways. 
Yours, truly, 

Frank D, Haines, Executive Secr^etary. 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 143 

409 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, April SO, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I am favored with your letter of April 23, and also with the documents 
you were kind enough to send mo resiiecting the establishment of a national post- 
graduate university at Washington. 

I agree with you in believing that it is a most beneficent and important enterprise. 
I see no reason why there should not be entire unanimity in both the House of Repre- 
sentatives and the Senate in carrying out what was evidently a well-defined purpose 
of the fathers of the Republic. I heartily approve of the object you have in view. 
Yours.jtruly, 

Samuel R. Shipley. 



Law Office of Warren Higley, 120 Broadway, 

New York, April 3, 1S9S. 
Dear Sir: I beg to acknowledge receijit of memorial in re national. university, 
and Senator Proctor's report. 
May you have success in your noble eftort to found a great national university. 
Very sincerely yours, 

Warren Higley. 



University of Virginia, 
Charlottesville, Va., December 2S, 1S91. 
Dear Governor Hoyt: I'havethehonorto ackuowledgethe receipt of your most 
courteous letter of the 23d instant inviting my cooperation in the national university 
work. I have ever been and now am deeply interested in the work, and shall deem 
it a great honor to be counted among its friends and supiiorters. Whenever the 
scheme of a national university association shall be matured, I hope you will call upon 
me for any work that can be done toward furthering and developing the plan. In 
the meantime I beg to thank you most cordially for the honor of your invitation, and 
with hearty good wishes for eminent success, remain, 

Yours, very respectfully, M. Schele De Verb. 



4333 Forrestville Avenue, Chicago, January 10, 1S9S. 
My Dear Sir: Please accept my sincere thanks for the copy of the ''Memorial in 
regard to a national umiversity." I wish I had known of it before writing my 
address. At my first moment of leisure I shall read it with all the attention and 
care it deserves. 

I shall anxiously look out for your bill, and whether I agree with, it or not as to all 
details, be sure that there will be no heartier well-wisher to it than 
Yours, very sincerely, 

H. Von Holst ( University of Chicago). 



No. 98 Bible House, New York, January 15, 18G2. 
My Dear Sir : By all means make use of my name for the purpose indicated, and 
accept my best wishes for the complete success of the noble national university 
scheme. The delay in my answering your letter of the 9th instant has been owing 
to absence from the city. 

Believe me, very truly yours, Jas. Grant Wilson. 



Saratoga Springs, N. Y., August SI, 1892. 

Dear Governor : You do me great honor in asking me to sign my name to the 

general proposition. I firmly believe that the ideal university, such as you seek, 

would lend dignity to the decrees and wisdom to the deliberations of the National 

Government. So widely has exact science extended that it is difficult to conceive of 



144 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

a question — even be it that of the establishment of a new consulate or a new fourth- 
class post-office — but can be decided best, or only decided at all, by the application 
of general principles founded on observation in one of the many departments of 
science. 
With the highest regards, believe me, sincerely, 

Persifor Frazer, 



Chicago, May 1, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Mr. Marshall Field directs me to acknowledge receipt of your favor, 
29th ultimo, contents of which have been duly noted, and are entirely satisfactory. 
You are therefore at liberty to count him among the friends of the enterprise you 
speak of. 

Yours", very truly, Arthur B. Jones {Secretary). 



1750 M Street NW., Washington, D. C, March 11, 1895. 

My Dear Sir : I sincerely thank you for your kindness in supplying me with such 
accurate information as to what you have done in behalf of the establishment by our 
Government of a national university in Washington, an institution that will stimu- 
late and elevate every educational institution in our whole country ; an institution 
that will be every way competent to train and elevate the intellect of our American 
youth to the highest possible attainments in every art, science, and occupation that 
can add to the usefulness, the happiness, the power of self-support and the true 
dignity of human nature. 

With earnest hopes that your efforts may be crowned with perfect success, I remain, 
yours, very truly, 

Z. C. ROB-BINS. 



Philadelphia, April 22, 1895. 
My Dear Sir : In answer to yours of April 10, if you think I can aid you in the 
promotion of your enterprise I shall be very glad to be counted among its friends. 
Very truly yours, 

Thomas Dolan. 



State of North Dakota, Executive Office, 

Bismarck, September 12, 1895. 
Sir : Your favor of recent date has been referred to the governor, and I am directed 
to give you his determination in the matter of recommendation. 

The governor authorizes me to state that you are at liberty to use his name as 
giving a personal recommendation; that he deems the plan not only feasible but 
practical, and will be pleased to see the friends of the measure push it for favorable 
consideration before the next session of Congress. 

I have the honor to sign, by direction of the governor, yours, respectfully, 

Will M. Cochran {Private Secretary). 



Clinton, N. Y., January 4,*1S95. 
My Dear Sir : I send you. to-day my articles on a national university and our com- 
pleted State systems. If you approve, I wish you would so signify in a note, stating 
your views. * * * \ hope to aid you somewhat in this magnificent work. 
Very truly yours, 

E. P. Powell, 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 145 

Salem, Mass., Decemier 12, 1894. 
Dkar Sir : Your letter in regard to a national uniyersity is at hand. It is high 
time Congress and the nation were moving in the matter. 

Anything I can do to help along the good project will be done cheerfully. I shall 
be happy to be ranked as a member of the national university commissittee. 
Sincerely yours, 

William A. Mo wry (Former- Editor of Education). 



Philadelphia, April 22, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I have much pleasure in giving my hearty approval and assent to the 
proposition for a national university at Washington. 

Yours, truly, J. C. Strawbridge. 



Territory of Arizona, Executive Office, 

Phoenix, Ariz., September 10, 1895. 
Dear Sir : I most heartily indorse the proposition for the establishment of a 
national university, as suggested in your letter of August 30. The good results 
which must flow therefrom will be so general and far reaching, and the impress its 
influence will make upon the country at large so significant, that, if the considera- 
tion the importance of such a national institution should command is given it, I 
believe it will receive the earnest approval of Congress, and such is my hope. 
EespectfuUy, 

L. C. Hughes (Governor). 



New York, March 24, 1893. 
Dear Sir ; * * * i hope, however, before long to be relieved from these respon- 
sibilities, and whenever that happy release may come to me, you will find me ready 
to cooperate heartily with you. 

Truly yours, H. Villard 



State of Washington, Executive Department, 

Olympia, September 12, 1895. 
Dear Sir : In reply to yours of the Slst ultimo, I beg to say that I am heartily in 
favor of establishing a national post-graduate university at the National Capital, 
and that I desire to be numbered among the friends of that enterprise. 
Yours, very truly, 

J. H. McGraw (Governor). 



Boston, December 10, 1891. 
Dear Sir : With a lively interest in the great undertaking you have at heart, very 
respectfully, yours, 

Frank H. Kasson 
(Editor and Publisher of Education, Boston, Mass.). 



Philadelphia, Pa., November 29, 1894. 
My Dear Sir : Accept my sincere thanks for your thoughtful kindness in sending 
me your memorial in behalf of a national university at Washington. I read it with 
the deepest interest, alike for its rich retrospect and for its bright outlook. I regard 
it as being, in many respects, the most valuable document of its kind in the world 
When I come to Washington again I shall be most glad to confer with you on this 
momentous matter. 

Believe me to be, with great respect, faithfully yours, 

Geo, Dana Boardman. 
S. Eep. 429 XO 



J46 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Cambkidge, Mass., March 2S, 1S96. 
My Dear Goveunok: Your kiud letter received this iiioming. * * * Many 
have striven earnestly to this end, and I wish all possible attainment in its success. 
Verjf sincerely youys, 

Benj. AmiioKP Gould. 



New Yokk City, Novemler 25, 1895. 
My DE4.R Sir: I shall he glad to coo^jerate Avith you in any way so as to realize 
the aim you have in vieAv. 

Believe me, very cordially yours, Charles Sprague Smith. 



WOODMONT, Washington, D. C, August 13, 1895. 
My Dear Governor : Allow me to express my approbation of the great schemo 
with which you are connected, and which I trust may he crowned with success. 
Truly yours, 

James B. Sener 
(Ex-Memler Congress, Chief Justice of Wyoming, etc.). 



State op Nevada, Executive Office, 

Carson City, September 19, 1895. 
Dear Sir: Your communication of 31st ultimo duly received in relation ''to 
securing the establishment of a national post graduate at Washington, D. C, and 
documents relative to the subject, and the objects to be attained by the establish- 
ment of such an institution." 
The object sought is a most worthy one, and meets with my cordial approval. 
Very respectfully, 

John E. Jones, Governor of Nevada. 



State of Montana, Executive Office, 

Helena, Septemler 21, 1895. 
Dear Sir : Eelative to the national post-graduate university at Washington, I 
will say that such an enterprise meets my warmest approval. J can conceive of no 
movement in an educational way better calculated to keep up the high standard of 
American school life, or that will do more to promote the interests of the student. 
There can be no question as to the superior facilities afforded the student in Wash- 
ington City in so far as various fields of investigation are concerned. I trust your 
efforts may jirove successful. 

With great respect, I am, very truly yours, J. E. Eickards, 

Governor of Montana. 



earnest VfORDS OP AN EARLIER DATE. 

Alexander Dallas Bache, LL. D., former Superintendent of the Coast Survey: 
"A great university, the want of our country in this our time, and the common 
school and college, fragments of a system requiring to be united into one." 

Dr. Benjamin Apthorp Gould, LL. D., astronomer, Cambridge: 
"We want a university which, instead of complying with the demands of the age, 
shall create, develop, and satisfy new and unheard-of requisitions and aspirations, 
vrhich, so far from adapting itself to the community, shall mold that community 
unto itself, and which through every change and every progress shall still be far in 
advance of the body social, guiding it, leading it, drawing it, pulling it, hauling it 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 147 

The late President James McCosh, LL. D., of Princeton : 

" I like the idea of a national university of a character so high that it would iiot 
be a competitor of any existing institution." 

Dr. Daniel Read, LL. D., while president of the Missouri State UriiverSityf 
"lean not treat as visionary that which Washington recommended and Jaines 
Madison and John Quincy idams advocated, and which other great and patriotic 
men have zealously urged as a means of elevating all our higlier institutions of 
learning, and of giving unity and concentration of effort to Mterary and scientific! 
men — constituting, indeed, a bond of unity to the nation itself." 

Joseph Henry, LL. D., while Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution : 
"Yes, the Smithsonian Institution will do a noble work in the interest of science* 
but the Government of the United States should not content itself with even the 
wisest use of a foreign benefaction. It must and will devise such measures of its 
own for the advancement of knowledge as in course of time will become founda- 
tion stones for the upbuilding of a great university that will do honor to American 
intelligence and help to make of this national capital one of the chief intellectual 
centers of the world." 

Hon. Timothy O. Howe, LL. D., of Wisconsin, United States ScTiator, Postmaster- 
General, etc. : 

"In the convention which framed the Constitution of the United States the sub- 
ject of a national university was somewhat considered. The proposition had won 
friends and no enemies there. It was in 1787 that James Madison, not of Massa- 
chusetts but of Virginia, not a professional teacher but a practical statesman^ 
moved in convention at Philadelphia to clothe Congress with express jiowers to 
establish such a university. * * * Doubtless the bills are imj)erfect. It is the 
businessof legislation and the work of time to perfect them. * * * If it be con- 
ceded that partial education is of some value, it will hardly be denied that thorough 
education is of more value. * * * It was in this precise way that Washington 
and Madison (and Jefferson) so incessantly urged the Government to act." 

Hon. Charles Sumner, LL. D., o£ Massachusetts, while United States Senator: 
"If we had in this National Capital such a university as that of Berlin, what ati 
influence for the transformation of Washington, for an increase of the interest of 
the people of our country in the higher learning, fox the advancement of knowl- 
edge among men, and for giving to this great and growing Republic the rank it 
should have among the nations of the earth." 

Louis Agassiz, LL. D., late of Washington and Cambridge, in 1872: 
"Is it not possible to get the Congress of the United States so far interested in 
this great cause of the national university that it will find pleasure not only in estab- 
lishing it, but in providing for it an endowment commensurate with the greatness 
of the country and with the pressing demands of the higher leai'uing?" 

Hon. Salmon P. Chase, LL. D., while Chief Justice of the United States: 
"The higher education seems to be progressing in a general way, but the many 
institutions which represent it are without concurrence. If there were a really great 
university at this national center, with opportunities that would attract graduate 
students from all sections, and with standards and conditions that would in eff'ect 
bring all collegiate institutions into relations with itself, this one great deficiency 
would be met; besides which, the association of its multitude of students would 
tend to a community of feeling and so increase the security of the Republic. Presi- 
dent Washington thought much of this, and made efforts and sacrifices for the 
founding of a national university, and the wonder is that Congress has not even yet 
taken a step in that direction." 



OBJECTIONS AND ANSWERS. 



OBJECTIONS RAISED BT CITIZENS, EEW IN NUMBER, WHO, IN THEIR CORRESPOND- 
ENCE WITH THE NATIONAL TTNIYERSITT COMMITTEE OF ONE HUNDRED, HAVE 
MANIFESTED MORE OR LESS OF OPPOSITION TO THE PRESENT EFFORT TO 
ESTABLISH THE UNITERSITT OF THE UNITED STATES, WITH ANSWERS BY THE 
CHAIRMAN OF SAID COMMITTEE. 

The objections lately oifered to the national university proposition are substan- 
tially those heretofore oifered, and so thoroughly answered by eminent educators 
and statesmen as often as presented. They are not really entitled, therefore, to the 
space and time requisite to yet another refutation, especially since for the most part 
they are from sources which have shown little disposition to deal with the subject 
upon that high plane to which it belongs. Nevertheless, in justice to such right- 
minded objectors as may not yet have considered the question upon all sides, and 
for the satisfaction of those who, having heard the objections in times past, may 
wish to carefully consider the question anew under conditions somewhat changed, 
they are here restated and again answered. 

1. First of all, it is said, there is really no need of better facilities for university 
education than the country now has — no need of the proposed. post-graduate uni- 
versity. 

And this notwithstanding the emphatic utterances by a long line of our foremost 
educators, beginning with President Hill, of Harvard, who again and again, and 
more earnestly than ever of late, have declared " a true university" to be "the lead- 
ing want of American education;" this notwithstanding the annual exodus of 
between 2,000 and 3,000 of our college graduates for study and research in the greater 
and better-equipped txniversities of the Old World; this notwithstanding our recent 
appeal to the universities of France ; this notwithstanding the present desperate 
struggle of every one of even our foremost institutions to meet the demand for better 
opportunities for post-graduate work at home; this notwithstanding the earnest 
desire of those heads of considerably more than 100 colleges and universities (includ- 
ing such as are foremost in the entire country) which lead in this work that the Gov- 
ernment of the United States shotild come to the rescue by the establishment of* a 
university which in the early future shall be more amply endowed and better cir- 
cumstanced than any we now have can reasonably hope to become. 

"No need of such an institution?" How narrow must be the range of such an 
objector. Because his own or a neighboring institution seems to him large and pros- 
perouS; though meeting simply the collegiate demands of those who are its stu- 
dents, and looking hopefully to the time when it may become in the true sense a 
university, he excludes that whole series of important functions and relationships 
that would attach to and characterize the proposed national university at the seat 
of Government as they could not possibly attach to any other in the United States. 
I mean not alone those supplementary, coordinating, and stimulating influences 
upon all the oiiher educational agencies, to which reference has already been made, 
but rather those offices which it alone could fulfill in its relation to the people and 
to the Government itself. 

Established by the people and for the people, ma'naged by men of first eminence 
and chosen from all divisions of the country without distinction of party or creed, 
conducted interiorly by men illustrious for their attainments and achievements m 

149 



150 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

their several departments of learning, and attended by college graduates of superior 
gifts and aspirations from every portion of the country, the National University 
would command the attention of the whole people as no other institution coiild, giv- 
ing to them new conceptions of the extent of human Vnowledge, actual and possible, 
with a consequent increase in their appreciation of the whole series of schools, which, 
as so many steps, lead up to the highest, and thus arousing in them a new and 
increasing interest in the great cause of American education. 

Again, furnishing to the Government in every department tne highest sources of 
information of every sort for the solution of the many problems which so constantly 
arise in the course of administration, it would incidentally render an incalculable 
service, and secure to the country that priceless advantage which in time Avould the 
more surely come of an uncompromising demand for the best-qualified statesmanship 
on the part of those to be entrusted with the management of our national affairs. 

The National University would do yet more — vastly more. By this sense of owner- 
ship in common thus awakened in the minds of the people, and through this 
gathering into its halls and laboratories the many representatives of every State in 
the Union, and sending them forth again not only with increased knowledge and 
power, but also with broader views, new friendships, and greater community of 
feeling, it would deepen and strengthen that fraternal regard between the people of 
all sections so indispensable to the peace and prosperity of the nation, and thus 
furnish new guaranties for the greatness and perpetuity of the Republic. 

2. It is also said that, if better opportunities for the higher culture are indeed 
necessary they should not be furnished by one institution, but by many — that ''not 
centralization but decentralization is the order of the day;" that the trend of edu- 
cational thought is against such a proposition as ours ; that the French, German, 
and Austrian governments are multiplying their universities instead of spending 
their strength upon one. 

So much for the want of a little thoughtful discrimination. Such as entertain 
this opinion may well be referred to the following from an oration once delivered by 
the distinguished Dr. Benj. Apthorp Gould, astronomer. 

" ' Centralization ' is a word and an idea now far from popular. But this, like most 
other principles, has its good as well as evil consequences. And while we, under 
democratic and republican institutions, feel the full force of the objections to that 
political centralization under which we see so many nations of the Old World totter- 
ing and sinking, we are too apt to overlook the incalculable, the unspeakable advan- 
tages which flow from the concentrated accumulation of a whole nation's genius 
and talent. * * * There is no substitute for the 'encounter of the wise.' Like 
that of flint and steel it strikes out without cessation the glowing sparks of truth ; 
like that of acid and alkali it forms new, unexpected, and priceless combinations; 
like the multiplication of rods in the fagot, it gives new strength to all while taking 
it from none. A spiritual stimulus pervades the very atmosphere electrified by the 
proximity of congregated genius, its unseen but ever active energy — floating in the 
air, whispering in the breeze, vibrating in the nerves, thrilling in the heart — prompts 
to new effort and loftier aspiration through every avenue which can give access to 
the soul of man. 

"Such centralization is eminently distinguished from political centralization, and 
by this peculiarity, among others, that far from being a combination for the sake of 
arguing and exercising a greater collective power, it acts, on the contrary to aug 
ment individual influence. While forming a nucleus for scientific, literary, artistic 
energy, it is not a gravitation center toward which everything must converge and 
accunmlate, but is an organic center whose highest function is to arouse and animate 
the circulation of thought and mental effort and jjrofound knowledge. It is a nucleus 
of vitality rather than a nucleus of aggregation. * * * An intellectual center for 
a land is a heart, but subject to no induration; it is a brain, but liable to no paraly- 
sis; an electric battery which can not be consumed; it is a sun without eclipse, a 



UNIVERSITY OP THE UNITED STATES. 151 

fouutain that will kuow no drought. To such a university our colleges would look 
for succor in their need, for counsel in their doubt, for sympathy in their weal or 
woe. There is no one of them but would develop to new strength and beauty under 
its genial emanations ; none so highly favored or so great that its resources and pow- 
ers would not expand; none too lowly to imbibe the vitalizing, animating influences 
which it would diifuse like perfume." 

Our objectors would seem to have lost sight of the fact that each of those Govern- 
ments naturally, if not necessarily, began their special efforts for supremacy with 
but one institution; makiug it so great and strong that they are now able to aid in 
the planting of others and to supply each of them with a whole galaxy of illustrious 
men for their many departments. Let America have at least one that shall be unsur- 
passed, and that shall complete our system of American education. 

3. One of the objectors has even ventured to assert that, while it may have been 
well for the Government to do something for elemetary education, higher education 
on the other hand is rather a luxury and may be left to take care of itself — the very 
thing it can not do, because of the large sums requisite for the costly manning and 
equipping of gTeat institutions, and which, if wholly left to private benefactions 
are ever liable to be ruiniously mortgaged to some crudity of the endower or to some 
tenet of religious faith. 

For answer to this point, without stopping to show how, in education, the lower 
depends on the higher, I have been content to quote the words of two of America's 
foremost educators,^ mamely those of Hon. Andrew D. White, former president and 
upbuilder of Cornell University, and of that most illustrious apostle of popular 
education, Horace Mann. 

It was President White who, in discussing this very national university proposi- 
tion, said: ''And, finally, I insist that it is a duty of society itself— a duty which it 
can not throw off — to see that the stock of talent and genius in each generation has 
a chance for development, that it may be added to the world's stock and aid in the 
world's work. Now, it is just this talent and genius which, as all history shows, 
private capacity and the law of supply and demand will not develop." 

J^nd it was Horace Mann who boldly declared, ''No man in our country and in 
our times is worthy the name of statesman who does not include the highest practi- 
cable education of the people in all his plans of administration.'^ 

4, Again, it is urged that if it must' be conceded that better and the very best 
post-graduate facilities are still needed, in such case it would be more rational and 
economical to concentrate the necessary resources upon one than to distribute them 
among several, nevertheless that one should not be established by the National 
Government, for a number of reasons, to wit : 

In the first place, says the objector, "It could hardly be kept out of politics;" 
quite forgetting how entirely our great military and naval academies have escaped 
this danger ; how perfectly free from political interference has been our own noble 
Smithsonian Institution from first to last; how the great State universities have 
developed and flourished under the fostering care of legislative bodies far more liable 
than the Congress of the United States to be influenced in such matters by party' 
considerations ; forgetting, too, that educational and scientific work is less interfered 
with by both legislative bodies and the public in proportion as it passes into the 
higher fields. 

And then "the location would be unfortunate ; " the objector seeming to know little 
of the real facts in the case, and to have lost sight entirely of the small account to 
be made of distance in these days of easy transit, of the fact that even Washington 
is not so far off as Berlin, while being at the same time the most beautiful and 
attractive of all of our larger cities and also affording readier contact than any other 
with representatives of all sections and countries, with the broadening and liberal- 
izing influences incident thereto. Moreover he seems surprisingly forgetful that 
the District of Columbia is the only spot where it could be constitutionally estab- 



152 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

lished, and that here at Washington as nowhere else in America are found those 
important and ever-increasing aggregations of material and men whicli of them- 
selves almost make a university. 

5. Still more serious than any of these is said to be the embarrassment that might 
come to the existing colleges and universities to be overshadowed, minified, stripped 
of their professors and students, and reduced to nothingness by the competing cen- 
tral institution. 

How strangely such objectors ignore about all the elements involved in the rela- 
tionship to be established. They seem not to understand that, first of all, the Uni- 
versity of the United States is to be exclusively post graduate; which fact of itself 
relieves the more than 300 of our collegiate institutions of every possible ground of 
anxiety, and should open to their view (as it does with the majority) the incalcu- 
lable benefits that would come to them in the consequent correlation of all the higher 
institutions, in the unification of their work, in the elevation of standards, in the 
better supply of better-fitted men for their many faculties, in the stimul.ition the 
national university would give to their thousands of ambitious students by the 
opportunities, honors, and distinctions held aloft to them in the face of the whole 
world. 

As for the newer institutions established within the recent years, but few of them 
have so much as a well-founded hope of doing a very large amount of that work of a 
university in the higher sense, which consists in original investigations by great 
leaders in many fields of inquiry, and in the induction of gifted minds into the 
methods of those researches by means of which the boundaries of knowledge are 
enlarged and mankind is advanced in material and spiritual power. They are 
mixed institutions, all of them; seeking to do, first of all, the proper work of the 
college; second, to supplement this as far as limited means and forces will allow 
by advance work in the lecture room for such as have already received the bachelor's 
degree, and third, to attempt such work in the laboratory as may seem in a man- 
ner to justify the university title. 

It is needless to add that, while many such institutions have done and are doing 
the work of the college very well — unless it be that they attach too much impor- 
tance to the learning of many things and too little to that discipline which gives 
added power — the ''university work " attempted is for the most part done very 
scatteringly, at great disadvantage, and, of course, with very partial results. 

The talk of ruinous " competition," is groundless, therefore. Most of the existing 
institutions would be without the shadow of a claim to sympathy on this ground. 
Such few as have begun post-graduate work are divided on the question ; the older 
and less progressive taking needless alarm, while the newer ones, though doing a 
much larger proportion of advanced work, with high courage and a better under- 
standing of what the national university would be, are cordial supporters of the 
new movement, as will appear from the "Godspeed" they have so often wished the 
national committee of promotion. They know, first of all, that even if some of 
their post-graduate work should also be undertaken by the central institution, 
there are many things worse than an honorable competition — that, as " competition 
in business is the life of trade," so in the higher fields of original scientific work it 
often leads to individual triumphs and to scientific progress for the world. 

These last also know that a central and national institution, interested above all 
in the welfare of important university agencies would gladly find ways for a practi- 
cal realization of all that is so wisely provided for in Section 10 of the pending bill, 
which reads as follows : 

"Sec. 10. The university shall have authority to establish with other institutions 
of education and learning in the United States such cooperative relations as shall 
be deemed advantageous to the public interest." 

A real university, manned and equipped for this higher work only, would not 
merely supply this growiug demand of our country and age by relieving a multitude 
of oiir collegiate institutions of the seeming necessity to keep pace with ambitious 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 163 

and better endowed competitors by attempting imjjossible things ; it would enable 
tbem to concentrate their means and forces upon their proper work, and thus con- 
tribute to that thorough scholarship of which, with all our schools, colleges, and 
so-called universities, there is too little in this country anywhere. 

If anyone of these were vastly better endowed, officered, and furnished it would 
still be unable to exert that coordinating, correlating, stimulating, and uplifting 
force so greatly needed and so sure to be exercised by a post-graduate university of 
the highest type, established at Washington and bearing the stamp of the nation. 
Denominational ambitions, local jealousies, and State rivalries would prove insur- 
mountable to even the best of them and there would still be a demand for the 
University of the United States. 

The fear of embarrassment to existing institutions is therefore wholly groundless. 
The planting of the proposed institution would doubtless have the effect to satisfy 
some of the so-called universities that they are still far from the mark of their high 
calling. And that would be an excellent service. The majority, seeing the present 
impossibility of becoming more than merely nominal universities, would wisely limit 
themselves to the solid and more useful work of the college, as before intimated, thus 
perfecting the scholarship of those whom they are to qualify for the business of life or 
for entrance upon the work of the university itself. And such of the institutions as are 
really able to do something valuable in the way of research and of leading graduates 
of genius into the highest fields of effort would naturally limit themselves to fewer 
subjects, thus increasing the probability of an abler handling of them, and drawing 
into their work such students as for various reasons would find it for their interest 
to utilize the facilities near home, instead of coming to Washfngton. Moreover, 
while this work of readjustment is going on the central institution will be gathering 
in those ambitious graduates of many colleges and universities who would otherwise 
have entered directly into their chosen life pursuits ; giving to them opportunities for 
advanced learning in the various departments, training them for those investigations 
by means of which the knowledge of mankind is increased, and thus fitting for the 
highest service in the colleges and universities in the several States a score of men 
of sujjreme qualifications for every professor drawn to the national center. 

6. But I have reserved the most extraordinary of the objections to the last. It has 
an antiquated look and provokes a query concerning the means of its fostering and 
survival to this day. It is said, and said as if settling the whole business, that it is 
no proper function of the Government to care for the interests of education ; that 
education is not essential to the security of the Kepublic; that if it can not be had 
without the helj) of the Government it is better that it should not be had at all; 
that this helping of the people to th^ means of education is even dangerous to our 
institutions, nay, that it "saps the foundations of public liberty ; " — as if the Govern- 
ment of the United States were an independent personality having jiowers absolutely 
and wholly its own, capable of giving to the people a force and substance they do 
not in and of themselves possess, and thus invading their independence and weaken- 
ing their self-reliance ; as if the Government were not in fact a body of servants 
appointed to do the people's work within prescribed limits, the people themselves 
being the masters, decreeing and doing through and by their servants whatever is 
done, and hence being in no sense separable, either in fact or in thought, from the 
Government itself. 

Touching this whole subject of a just relationship between Government and the 
higher education, we can not do better than to quote from an address by Dr. Wil- 
liam T. Harris, present United States Commissioner of Education, before the 
National Educational Association, at Detroit, in 1874: 

"But the most obvious and often repeated objection to the proposed national uni- 
versity is drawn from the nature of our national politics. It is contended that we 
have a certain low standard of politics, and that whatever is directed, managed, and 
supported by the State sufters inevitably from political influence. A university 



154 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

founded under the management of our National Government would be the prey of 
demagogues, it is thought. This view is developed and supported chiefly hy those 
who hold the theory that our Government should exclude from its functions an inter- 
ference with education or with other functions within the range of civil society. 

"This theory has been persistently reiterated in political platforms and political 
treatises during the period since the formation of our Federal Government. At times 
it has led to legislation tending to purge away certain complications with civil 
society which have arisen through various exigencies of war or peace. The history 
of legislation regarding a national bank, regarding the issue of paper money, or a 
tariff, regarding various internal imj)rovements, and the status of corporations, is one 
of the most momentous interest to the thinking statesman and economist. Whatever 
violent legislation has attempted, to purge the state of all complication with civil 
society, has failed. Again and again in our history we have come upon conditions 
which necessitated the interference of Government in affairs of civil society. In 
latter years, and in proportion as the relations of civil society have become more 
complex with us, such complication has become more and more frequent and inevi- 
table. Internal improvements, foreign and domestic commerce, intercommunication, 
money, bonds, and corporate rights and privileges — the General Government can 
not choose but mediate in those things. Its war caused it to create a mercantile 
commodity in the shape of bonds to the amount of thousands of millions of dollars, 
and to throw the same on the market of the world within a period of six years. Civil 
society and the state are only different phases of the same organic human combina- 
tion ; in the former, in civil society, the individual uses the organization for his own 
sustenance and support, and the furtherance of his private ends through the agency 
of wealth; in the latter, the state, the organization, exists in its unity, and subordi- 
nates all individuals to its end. 

" The state must exist as the logical condition of the existence of civil society and 
the welfare or rational existence of the individual. Unless the individual devotes 
his life and property to the state and acknowledges the supreme right to use him 
and his he does not properly recognize his position. But it exists whether con- 
sciously recognized or not by the citizen or statesman. Now, from the reciprocal 
relations of the functions of the state and civil society as related to the individual, 
it follows that the state as a directive power of the organism as a whole must legis- 
late regarding all such phases as relate to its own self-preservation and perpetuation. 
No other people ever before started such a theory as the one wjiich asserts or pre- 
supposes in some form the denial of an organic relation of state and society. So 
long as we undertake to realize this theory we shall act a farce between ourselves and 
the intelligence of mankind. We shall do practically in spite of ourselves what we 
condemn in theory. 

"By a common movement the foremost nations of Europe have advanced to the 
position that public education is a concern that vitally interests the state. No state 
can allow its productive industry to fall behind that of other nations. Independence 
can not be long preserved on such terms. Directly, as necessary to the war material, 
and indirectly as essential to productive industry, the education of the whole people 
is indispensable, and the Government can not afford to leave it to arbitrary private 
benevolence or to the zeal of the church. 

"The great desideratum in this country is to kindle still more the zeal of our leg- 
islators on behalf of public education. To attempt to cool their zeal is to work a 
mischief. It behooves our Government to see to it that education is national and 
not sectional or sectarian, or a matter of caste. On no other nation is this injunc- 
tion laid so heavily. The foundations of our Government rest on popular education. 
Other nations have always seen to it that their directive intelligence was educated 
at the expense of the state. They even go farther in our time and educate their 
sinews of war and the quality of their productive industry. We, in America, are 
coinmitted to universal public education implicitly by the Constitution of our GoV' 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 155 

ernment, which is a Government of the people by the people. Not only must the 
citizen here be able to read and interpret the laws of the land for himself, but he is 
expected to possess and exercise the requisite intelligence to mate the laws which 
he is to obey. All the evils which we suffer politically may be traced to the exist- 
ence in our midst of an immense mass of ignorant, illiterate, or semi-educated people 
who assist in governing the country, while they possess no insight into the true 
nature of the issues which they attempt to decide. If in Europe, and even in China, 
the directive classes are educated at public expense, how essential is it that the 
republican state shall, before all, iusure universal education within its domain." 

The accepted doctrine of to-day is certainly this : That the Government is of the 
nature of an agency established by the iieople for their convenience, and for their 
permanent as well as present advantage — that the Constitution is a binding agree- 
ment of the people as to the purpose and organization of this agency and the char- 
acter of the agents to be employed, the manner of their choosing, and the scope of 
the duties they are to perform. And who will say that the people, acting through 
this agency, are not both competent and in duty bound, in constitutional ways, to 
avail themselves of their own means to their own highest good? 

Such was the theory of the founders of the Government and framers of the Con- 
stitution ; such the view of Washington, who repeatedly, and especially in his last 
annual message to Congress, pointed out several ways in which a national university; 
established by the Government, would prove a bulwark of free institutions ; such the 
theory on which the Federal Government not only established those noble training 
schools for the Army and Navy at West Point and Annapolis, but has also made such 
provision for elementary and secondary education as has resulted in the public-school 
system peculiar to this country; such the theory on which Government provision 
was early made for the partial endowment of universities in a number of the great 
States of more recent organization ; such the theory on which, by the act of 1862, 
provision was made for the establishment of those schools of agriculture and the 
mechanic arts which have furnished to thousands of needy students scieutific oppor- 
tunities otherwise imj)ossible^ and which have so materially advanced the practical 
arts, while adding to the resources, attractive powers, and general usefulness of the 
institutions in connection with which the most of them were established ; such the 
theory on which Congress provided for the so-called experimental stations, with a 
view to the advancement of the art of hiisbandry — things done, every one of them, by 
the people through their agents, and in the joint interest of community, State, and 
Nation. 

Is not this also the theorj'^ on which the Government has taken part in our inter- 
national expositions, and has inaugurated surveys and explorations for discovery in 
the interest of science and for increasing the honor of the American name 1 Is not this 
the theory on which, at a cost of so many millions, have been established and are 
liberally maintained at this national center that grand cluster of half a hundred 
educational, scientific, and industrial bureaus, museums, observatories, laboratories, 
libraries, and the like, which are contributing so greatly to the dignity, honor, and 
general welfare of the nation! Is not this the theory, last of all, on which was but 
recently created and equipped a new great Department of the Government, the 
Department of Agriculture ? 

In view of all these facts and of that vast array of facts and considerations so 
easily marshalled, how misconceived and groundless seem all the objections that were 
ever urged against the one final step, greatest of all, which looks to the more effect- 
ive service of those important agencies, as well as to their larger utilization in the 
interest of education — in short, to the earlier opening up, better husbanding, wiser 
direction, and perpetual development of the resources, both material and intellectual, 
of a great nation, so magnificently planted and so wonderfully endowed ! That such 
final step will be taken, and with a liberality commensurate with the great end to 
be accomplished, there is no longer room for question. The Government can not now 



156 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

repudiate or reverse its beneficent and far-reaching policy in the interest of science 
and learning. 

The American people, having early realized the vital necessity for a general 
enlightenment of the masses, were not slow in coming to understand how the vast- 
ness and variety of our resources and the rapid progress of other nations were 
making both great and growing demands upon the industries of the country, which 
they were powerless to meet without the help of science; nor can it be doubted 
that they have now also come to a realization of how truly the conspicuous place 
we hold among the nations, and the nature of our Government, as well as the genius 
and aspirations of our people, imi^eratively demand the best possible facilities for 
that high culture and that work of research which are essential to intellectual 
supremacy, and hence are reasons deep and urgent for the earliest possible estab- 
lishment of the crowning University of the United States. 



SENATE. { Eeport 429, 

1st Session. ' ( ( Part 2. 



IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Apkil 8, 1896. — Ordered to be printed. 



Mr. Walthall, from the Select Committee to Establish the Uni- 
versity of the United States, submitted the following 

VIEWS OF THE MINORITY: 

[To accompany S. 1202.] 

For a century the proposition to establish a national university, to be 
endowed and controlled by the General Government, has from time 
to time been before the Congress of the United States in one form or 
another. 

The following extracts front a Circular of Information issued by the 
Bureau of Education in 1890 briefly refer to the unsuccessful efforts 
made in that direction up to that time. 

''ATTEMPTS TO FOUND A NATIONAL UNIVERSITY. 

" The ideas of Washington respecting a national university at the cap- 
ital lingered long in the minds of statesmen after his plan was finally 
rejected. Doubtless it was through his influence that in 1796 a propo- 
sition was before Congress in the form of a memorial praying for the 
foundation of a university. No action was taken in favor of the pro- 
posed institution.^ 

"Again in 1811 a committee was appointed by Congress to report on 
the question of the establishment of a seminary of learning by the 
national legislature. The committee reported unfavorably, deeming it 
unconstitutional for 1 
proposed seminary.^ 

" In 1816 another committee was appointed to consider the same sub- 
ject, and again the scheme failed.^ From this time on the subject 
seemed practically settled, and we hear little more of it in legislative 
circles until the discussion of the disposal of the Smithsonian bequest. 
At this time there were many warm advocates of the proposal to devote 
the Smithsonian fund toward the founding of a national university. 

lEx. Doc, Fourth Congress, second session. 
°Ex. Doc, Eleventh Congress, third session. 
3 Ex. Doc, Fourteenth Congress, second session. 



I UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The subject at tliis time received free discussion, and the result ended 
in the defeat of the university plan. While the plan for a national uni- 
versity has not yet succeeded, Congress has established and supported 
the National Museum, the Congressional Library, the Naval Observ- 
atory, and the Bureau of Education, for the promotion of education 
and science. 

"An attempt to found a national university was made in 1873, soon 
after the circulation of the reports of the Paris Exposition. 

* * * * * # * 

"The bill reported ' at this time provided for a university at the capi- 
tal, endowed by the Federal Government to the amount of $20,000,000, 
yielding 5 per cent interest; the income to be used for buildings, 
furnishings, and for the general support of the university. It is hardly 
necessary to state tliat the bill did not pass. 

"It is not intended to discuss the question of a national university, 
but attention should be called to the great changes that have taken 
place in higher education in the last fifteen years. 

"The old colleges have broadened their courses and increased their 
endowments. State universities have come into power during this 
period, and the agricultural colleges, many of them then begun, have 
developed into flourishing institutions of learning. There has arisen 
a new class of universities, created by heavy private endowments; such 
are Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Tulane, Clark, Boston, Stanford, and others. 
With these new additions and the progress of the old schools, many 
of the evils complained of in the above report have disappeared. 
Whether these new institutions, working with the old, will fill the 
national demands for education, and thus render a national university 
unnecessary remains to be seen. It is evident that it is not an easy 
task to create a national university." 

On May 14, 1890, Senator George F. Edmunds introduced in the 
Senate "A bill to establish a university of the United States," which 
was referred to a select committee, of which he was chairman, but no 
action was taken upon it. 

This bill provided for the appropriation of $500,000 for the purchase 
of grounds and the erection of buildings, and that $5,000,000 should 
be set apart in the Treasury of the United States as a perpetual fund, 
bearing interest at 4 per cent per annum, for the support and mainte- 
nance of the university. 

On March 3, 1893, Senator Proctor, chairman of this committee, 
reported favorably a bill to establish a national university. The report 
shows that its location and endowment were provided for as follows: 

"As a partial provision for the location of the necessary buildings the 
bill grants the site selected for this purpose by President Washington 
in 1796, and now, since the removal of the Naval Observatory, without 

^ House Eeport No. 89, Forty-second Congress, third session, I, 90. 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 3 

important use; and for tlie support of the institution sets apart one- 
half the net proceeds of the public lands, one-half of such half to be 
used currently in providing for the opening of the institution and for 
carrying it on, the remainder to accumulate in the Treasury of the 
United States as an endowment until competent to yield a sufficient 
revenue, together with the gifts and bequests that may be attracted to 
it, for the permanent support of the institution." 

There was no action on this bill in the Senate. 

On March 24, 1894, Senator Hunton, chairman of this committee, 
reported favorably "A bill to establish a national university," which 
provided, as set forth in the report — 

"That for the practical establishment, support, and maintenance of 
the university there shall be used one-third of the net proceeds of the 
sales of the public lands for the period of ten years from the passage 
of this act ; that the regents shall have power to receive and adminis- 
ter all such gifts, devises, and bequests as are made for the benefit of 
the university," etc. 

This bill was discussed in the Senate but no vote was taken upon it, 
though urged with great earnestness and ability by the friends of the 
measure. 

Of the various bills that have been considered by this committee the 
present bill is the first one providing for an appropriation of money for 
the purpose of a national university which has received the sanction 
of a majority, the others which have been favorably reported having 
provided that its support should come from the proceeds of the sales of 
the public lands. 

In support of the present measure the majority quote expressions 
from the earlier Presidents, commencing with Washington, and from 
some of the later ones, including President Grant. 

Attention, is invited to the following extract from the report of the 
majority : 

"It is also a matter of history that Presidents John Adams and 
Thomas Jefferson favored the university proposition throughout their 
terms of office, repeatedly urging its importance upon Congress. 

"For example, in his sixth annual message. President Jefferson, hav- 
ing already predicted favorable action by Congress and discussed the 
use of the Treasury surplus for a national endowment, said: 

"Education is here placed among the articles of public care ; not that it would be 
proposed to take its ordinary branches out of the hands of private enterprise, which 
manages so much better all the concerns to which it is equal, but a public institu- 
tion can alone supply those sciences which, though rarely called for, are necessary 
to complete the circle, all the parts of which contribute to the improvement of the 
country, and some to its preservation. * * * The present consideration of a 
national establishment for education particularly is rendered proper by this cir- 
cumstance also, that if Congress, approving the proposition, shall yet think it more 
eligible to found it on a donation,of lands, they have it now in their power to endow 
it with those which will be among the earliest to produce the necessary income." 



4 UNIVEKSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

From this it might be inferred that Mr. Jefferson favored the use of 
the Treasury surplus for a national endowment under the power 
invested by the Constitution in Congress, but an examination of the 
text of his message from which the above extract was taken clearly 
shows the contrary. The asterisks in the extract indicate that it is 
incomplete and a reference to the text reveals that the passage omitted 
is important, and is as follows : 

"The subject is now proposed for the consideration of Congress, 
because, if approved, by the time the State legislatures shall have 
deliberated on this extension of the Federal trusts, and the laws shall 
be passed and other arrangements made for their execution, the neces- 
sary funds will be on hand and without employment. I suppose an 
amendment to the Constitution, by consent of the States, necessary, 
because the objects now recommended are not among those enumer- 
ated in the Constitution, and to which it permits public moneys to be 
applied." 

The extract from President Grant's annual message of 1873 quoted 
by the majority shows that he favored "the establishment in this Dis- 
trict of an institution of learning or a university of the highest order 
hy donations of lands J^ 

When it is considered in connection with Mr. Jefferson's position that 
a proposition to vest in Congress the express power to establish a 
national university was voted down in the Constitutional Convention, 
whatever may be claimed to have been the motive which influenced 
the vote, it may be seen that there is at least room for discussion as to 
the constitutionality of such a proposition as that embodied in this bill. 
There may be precedents to support it, and the minority, while sug- 
gesting the constitutional question for consideration, base their oppo- 
sition to the measure chiefly upon some practical gro.unds which will 
be briefly stated. 

This project has repeatedly failed when the financial affairs of the 
Government were in more satisfactory condition than at present. 
Unless there is an actual necessity for such an institution as that 
proposed, and the majority think there is not, it should not be estab- 
lished, especially now, when the Government is constantly selling 
bonds to raise money and its receipts are constantly running behind 
its exi)enditures. 

It is true the present bill makes an inconsiderable appropriation, but 
there is no effort to conceal the fact that the Government is to provide 
the necessary funds to secure the establishment and maintenance of 
the university, involving, it is believed, an outlay of an immense amount 
of money. This money mast come, as matters now stand, from an addi- 
tion to the burdens of taxation or from the further issue of bonds, and 
the minority sanction neither for this purpose, or from the devotion to 
it of a portion of the public lands, which will be discussed later in this 
report. 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. O 

If to this there shall be opposed the conjecture that the necessary 
funds will come in large part from private benefactions, the answer is 
if the friends of the measure will be content with a mere charter, such 
as has been granted to both Catholic and Protestant institutions, carry- 
ing no implication that the university is to be founded and maintained 
by the use of public money, no objection, it is believed, will come from 
any quarter -, certainly none from the minority of the committee. But 
let us consider the question, 

IS THERE A NECESSITY EOE A NATIONAL UNIVERSITY! 

The case is very different now from what it was in the time of Wash- 
ington. He began his advocacy of a national university as early as 
1789, but it took distinct and public form in 1794. The only institu- 
tions in existence in the United States in 1789 that were at all worthy 
of the name of college were Harvard, founded in 1638 ; William and 
Mary, 1693; Yale, 1701; Princeton, 1796; Washington and Lee, as it 
is now called, 1749, and Columbia, 1754. 

These five institutions at the close of the Revolutionary war, though 
they were considered colleges, were nearer the grade of academies in 
the present day. They had but little endowment, their libraries were 
small, they had practically no museums and no laboratories. Even 
Harvard, the oldest and strongest of these institutions, did not become 
a fuU-liedged college until long after Washington's death, and when 
he was urging a national university all Harvard's appropriated and 
unappropriated funds did not amount to more than $50,000. 

Columbia, which had been called King's College previously, was 
closed in 1776, and was in a deplorable condition when the Revolution 
ended — its board of governors dead or missing, its library scattered, 
and its apparatus destroyed. When it was reorganized as Columbia it 
had an income of only $6,000 a year, and had but little more for sev- 
eral years afterwards. The condition of the other institutions named 
above was not much better at the close of the Eevolutionary war. 

Several other institutions were organized just before and just after 
the Eevolutionary war — Brown University, 1764; Rutgers, 1766; Dart- 
mouth, 1769; Washington, 1782; Dickinson, 1783; HamiDden-Sidpey, 
1783 — but on account of the unsettled condition of the country and 
the poverty of the people they had but little strength and would bardly 
be recognized as academies to-day. There was no reasonable pros- 
pect of any large gifts to these institutions for at least a generation 
to come, and the people who were able to educate their sons naturally 
turned to good institutions abroad, and especially to the lands from 
which they had recently emigrated. This procession of American youth 
to foreign schools, where they might imbibe monarchical ideas and sen- 
timents, awakened in Washington the fear of future calamity to the 
young Republic, and in this it is believed may be found the origin of his 
advocacy of a strong and well-equipped national institution. 



b UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The situation now is very different. There are about four hundred 
colleges and universities distributed through the country. They have 
about a hundred and fifty millions of productive funds, and quite as 
much more invested in buildings, lands, libraries, museums, laborato- 
ries, etc. They have an annual income of from twenty to twenty-five 
millions. It would seem there is no longer any necessity for our young 
men going abroad for college training. 

There are at least twenty institutions distributed over the country 
that are now doing what is called university work, by which is meant 
post-graduate work, providing facilities for study beyond the bachelor's 
degree. They have an income of from ten to twelve millions a year, 
and can accommodate in this line of work more students than they now 
have. 

In the concluding i3aragraph, quoted above, from the Circular of Infor- 
mation issued by the Bureau of Education in 1890, the great changes 
that had taken place in the preceding fifteen years are mentioned, and 
attention is called to what there appears as showing the disappearance 
of the evils complained of in the report there referred to. 

The munificent gifts that have been devoted to university work of 
late years are but the beginning of what may be expected hereafter as 
a result of the large fortunes that have been amassed in this country. 
In this connection the gift of Leland Stanford may be referred to, and 
also the wonderful growth of the Chicago University and the several 
millions received by Columbia, Johns Hopkins, the Clark University, 
and a number of others. 

Here in Washington, besides other institutions of high rank, which 
are supported by private means and endowment, we have a grand uni- 
versity representing the Catholic faith, and the American University, 
representing the Protestant faith, wiU soon commence ^the erection of 
its buildings. Both these institutions are backed by great wealth and 
power, and at least one other is in contemj)lation ; and present and 
future demands at the capital, it is believed, will be met by institutions 
existing and projected, embracing all branches of research and learning. 

IS A NATIONAL UNIVERSITY DESIRABLE? 

There are many practical difficulties in the way. Eeligion is likely 
to give rise to one. Let such a university be established, and if the 
great denominations do not contend with reference to the religious 
implication of the doctrines taught, they will at least find fault if there 
is not a religious and Christian spirit iu the institution. 

Even if this could be avoided and all should consent that education 
might be purely secular, there are subjects to be taught upon which 
the great political parties of the country would not agree, and the danger 
is that the university might become a football between these parties as 
they come and go from power. The great question of constitutional 
interpretation would necessarily be discussed. Those who contend for 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 7 

a strict construction would be dissatisfied if a broader construction 
were tauglit, and vice versa. There would also be the same kind of 
question in reference to the relation of this Government to foreign 
governments in the department of international law. It was recently- 
seen that many instructors in universities did not agree with the posi- 
tion taken by the President upon this subject. 

There would certainly be the same question with reference to eco- 
nomics — a subject which is sometimes dealt with as iDost- graduate 
work. 

Should these departments touch either free trade or x)rotection, 
disagreement and friction would be inevitable, and it is not seen how 
anything could be taught concerning the economic conditions of the 
country without involving these disputed points. 

Political history must also be taught in a national university, involv- 
ing the discussion of the past and present attitude of the great parties 
touching the political questions that divide them. 

Mediaeval history with its religious wars, and modern history with 
its religious contentions, could not be taught without offense to many 
among the great Protestant and Catholic bodies. 

If ethics were touched upon at all it must be either from the natural- 
istic standpoint of the evolutionist, which would be objectionable to the 
Christian, or from the Christian standpoint, which would be objection- 
able to the naturalist. These sciences could not be followed to the 
origin of things without striking the same religious difficulties. 

These and kindred objections seem fatal to the successful and har- 
monious workings of such an educational establishment as that pro- 
posed to be founded and maintained at public expense. 

PUBLIC LANDS. 

If it shall be proposed to resort to the public lands for this purpose 
an objection which would seem to be decisive is that this can not be 
done without a reversal of the settled policy of the Government to 
devote these lands liberally to educational purposes in the States to aid 
in the support of both common schools and colleges, so that the imme- 
diate benefits so far as possible may reach all the people. 

This policy seems to find full justification in the consideration that 
these lands, the property of the people, should, so far as devoted to 
educational purposes, be applied as much-as practicable for the benefit 
of the people in general, and not to a purpose which, directly at least, 
would benefit but a limited class. The annexed document, marked A, 
shows the extent to which this policy of aiding education in the States 
has been pursued during the long period which has elapsed since a 
national university was first proposed. That it has been followed so 
long with the approval of the people of the country and with satis- 
factory results vindicates its wisdom and beneficence, and the fact that 
special grants of lands are constantly being made by Congress in aid 



8 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

of education in the States argues that the policy is sustained by the 
public and that a diversion of those lands to the uses of a national 
university would not meet public favor and support. 

Documents attached hereto marked B, G, D, and E, containing 
expressions from a number of distinguished educators and other emi- 
nent persons, are referred to as showing that in their opposition to this 
bill the minority are supported by the judgment of many distinguished 
Americans who are wholly impartial and peculiarly fitted to deal with 
this subject. The testimony of many others might be added if consid- 
ered necessary. 

David Tuepie. 

James K. Jones. 

Knute Nelson. 

E. C. Walthall. 



A. 

STATE GRANTS OF PUBLIC LANDS-TABLES. 



General Land Office, March 12, 1896. 
Table 1. — Shoioing area of lands donated to States for various ^purposes, under various 
general and special grants. 



State and Terri- 


Support of common 
schools. * 


Academies, 
seminaries, 
or univer- 
sities. 


Agricultural and 
mechanical colleges. 


Public 
build- 
ings. 


Peni- 
tentia- 
ries, t 


Court- 


tory. 


Sections. 


Lands 
granted. 


Lands. 


Scrip. 


andjail. 


Alabama . 


16 

16 

16 and 36 

16 and 36 


Acres. 

901, 725 

928, 057 

5, 610, 702 

3, 715, 555 


Acres. 
46, 080 
46, 080 
46, 080 
46, 080 


Acres. 


Acres. 
240, 000 
150, 000 


Acres. 


Acres. 


Acres. 






9,600 
6,400 
32, 000 




1,000 




150, 000 
90, 000 




Colorado 




32, 000 






180, 000 
90, 000 
90, 000 

270, 000 




Delaware 


















16 


1, 053, 653 


92, 160 




5,120 






Georgia 








Idaho 


16 and 36 
16 
16 
16 

16 and 36 


3,063,271 
985, 141 
601, 049 
978, 578 

2, 876, 124 


46, 080 
46, 080 
46, 080 
46, 080 
46, 080 


90, 000 


32, 000 








480, 000 
390, 000 






Indiana 












240, 000 
90, 000 


3,200 
6,400 






Kansas 










330, 000 
210, 000 
210, 000 
210, 000 
360, 000 








16 


798, 085 


46, 080 










Maine 










Maryland 
































Michigan 


16 
16 and 36 
16 
16 
16 and 36 
16 and 36 
16 and 36 


1, 003, 573 
2, 969, 991 
838, 329 
1, 162, 137 
5, 102, 107 

2, 637, 155 

3, 985, 422 


46, 080 
92, 160 
69, 120 
46, 080 
46, 080 
46, 080 
46, 080 


240, 000 
120, 000 


3,200 
6,400 












Mississippi 


210, 000 






330, 000 
90, 000 
90, 000 
90, 000 












32, 000 
12, 800 
12, 800 






Nebraska 




12, 800 
12, 800 




Nevada. 






New Hampshire - 


150, 000 
210, 000 




New Jersey 


















*The grant for the support of common schools is of certain sections, in place, in each township of 
the State, or, in case of the loss of the whole or part of the sections, to indemnity for the loss. The 
area here reported as granted is the result of a calculation based on the whole area of each State, as 
reported in Land OiHce Ke.port, 1895, page 222. 

By the act of June 16, 1880 (21 Stat. L., 287), the school-land grant of Nevada, exclusive of lands 
already sold by the State, was converted into a definite grant of 2,000,000 acres. 

The area used as a basis of calculation in the States of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming excludes the 
lands comprising the Yellowstone Park— 89,280 acres in Idaho, 178,707 acres in Montana, and 2,004,480 
acres in Wyoming— since the said lands are not subject to the grant. 

The area used as a basis of calculation in the case of Oklahoma Territory excludes 1,528 acres, the 
area of Greer County. , 

The grants to the Territories are in the nature of reservations, subject to absolute grants on their 
admission into the Union. 

t Penitentiary buildings and appurtenant lands have been granted to Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, 
South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming, but the exact area of lands has not been ascertained. 

9 



10 UNIVERSITY OP THE UNITED STATES. 

Table 1.— -Showing area of lands donated to States for various purposes, etc. — Continued. 



State and Terri- 


Support of common 
schools. 


Academies, 
seminaries, 


Agricultural and 
mechanical colleges. 


Public 
build- 
ings. 


Peni- 
tentia- 
ries. 


Court- 
house 
andjaiL 


tory. 


Sections. 


Lands 
granted. 


or univer- 
sities. 


Lands. 


Scrip. 


New York 




Acres. 


Acres. 


Acres. 


Acres. 
990, 000 
270, 000 


Acres. 


Acres. 


Acres. 




















16 and 36 

16 

16 and 36 


2, 531, 200 

710, 610 

3, 387, 520 


46, 080 
69, 120 
46, 080 


90, 000 


32,000 






Ohio . . 




630, 000 








90, 000 


6,400 








780, 000 
120, 000 
180, 000 






Ehode Island 
















South Carolina 


















16 and 36 


2, 813, 511 


46,080 


120, 000 


32, 000 








300, 000 
180, 000 






Texas 


















2,16,32,and36 


6, 007, 182 


156, 080 


200, 000 


64, 000 








150, 000 
300, 000 






Virn-inia 
















Washington 


16 and 36 


2, 488, 675 


46, 080 


90, 000 








150, 000 










16 
16 and 36 
16 and 36 
16 and 36 
16 and 36 


958, 649 

3, 368, 924 

4, 050, 346 
4, 309, 369 
1, 276, 204 


92, 160 
46, 080 
46, 080 
46, 080 
59, 520 


240, 000 
90, 000 


6,400 
32, 000 






■Wyoming 


























Oklahoma 


59, 520 




177, 280 














Total 


71, 112, 844 


1, 644, 080 


2,599,520 7.830.000 


512, 000 


57, 600 


1,000 








. 





B. 

A UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

SHOULD IT BE? 

The following, from letters of President Eliot, of Harvard; President Dwight, of 
Yale; President Low, of Columbia; President Larsen, of Luther College, Iowa; 
President Candler, of Oxford College, Georgia; President Bissel, of Upper Iowa 
University; President Smith, of Eandolph Macon College, Virginia, and Vice- 
President E. C. Hughes, Tabor College, Iowa, say " No." Dr. McCosh, of Princeton, 
said a few years ago, "I do not favor any project yet proposed" (for a national 
university). Many more opinions as positive might be given. Certadnly the judg- 
ment of such specialists ought to weigh in this matter : 

Yale University, 
Neiv Haven, February 20, 1896. 
The plan of establishing a national university in Washington by Congress seems 
to me an undesirable plan. I think such a university unnecessary. It seems to me 
much better that institutions of this character in our country should be sustained 
by private gifts and efforts, and I doubt the wisdom or propriety of governmental 
appropriations of money for such purposes. 

Very respectfully, yours, Timothy Dwight. 



Columbia College, 
New York, February 20, 1896. 

My Dear Governor : What I believe to be meritorious in your enterprise is the 
proposition to make available for students the great collections of books and other 
objects that already exist in Washington on so splendid a scale, and that are certain 
to increase in value and importance decade by decade. I am also sensible of the 
sentimental attractiveness of a University of the United States. When I have said 
this I am obliged to say that I see in the project two different but fundamental 
dangers. On the one hand there is danger that the University of the United States 
may exist only in name, and, so far from contributing to the scientific prestige and 
importance of the country, may be a source of shame to all those who are interested 
in the higher education. 

On the other hand, if it should be really a strong and powerful university, ani- 
mated by the highest ideals and endowed with adequate resources from the Treasury 
of the nation, I do not see how it can fail seriously to interfere with the work that 
is being done by the old and large foundations of the eastern part of the country. 
These institutions are already doing important and invaluable work for graduate 
students, and are by no means confined, as you seem to suppose, to undergraduate 
instruction. If they are called upon to compete in the future with a national uni- 
versity supported by taxation, in which there shall be no charge for tuition, it seems 
to me inevitable that the effect upon these institutions can not be otherwise than 
harmful. If only the institutions themselves were concerned, it may be said that 
that ought not to interfere with the establishment of a University of the United 
States. Certainly not if it can be shown that the people at large have more to hope 
for from a national university than from these institutions. That, however, is pre- 

11 



12 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

cisely what I think is not likely to be the case. Under existing conditions, all of 
these institutions, and others like them, are in receipt of large sums of money, con- 
stantly, from the gifts of generous and public-spirited citizens. They are wholly 
unembarrassed by politics in their administration, and they embody, many of them, 
more or less completely, the aspirations of strong localities for the higher education. 
A national university, offering tuition without fee, and supported out of the general 
Treasury, would tend to sap the source of supply of all these institutions, both in 
students and in gifts. It is not to be expected, I think, that private citizens will 
continue to contribute for this cause as they have done during the last twenty years, 
if the United States, as such, enters the field as a real and genuine competitor. 

This leads me to consider the probabilities of the outcome of the act immediately 
under discussion. I think it would be completely disappointing to those who are 
favoring the bill. Both the board of regents and the university council are to be 
named in order, after the first selection, from all the States in the Union, and at no 
time can any State have more than one representative. The political expediency of 
this provision is apparent. Its inevitable consequence to the university, I think, are 
no less apparent. It is not possible, in my opinion, to organize a teaching institution 
upon such lines that shall approach all subjects of inquiry and research in an atmos- 
phere of intellectual freedom. Again, the proposed university council contains the 
element of a fatal weakness in the twelve ex officio members who are to represent exist- 
ing institutions. lu the first place, all the men so situated who are worthy to occupy 
such a relation to the national university are already too busy. It is impossible to 
believe that the national university can be their first interest; and, under these cir- 
cumstances, it is inevitable that its interests will be neglected. Furthermore, the 
national university can not be made a real success as a teaching institution without 
depopulating, to some extent, the very institutions that are likely to be represented 
on the university council. 

All of this seems to me to lead up to the fact that the national university ought 
not to be, and ought not to aim to be, a teaching organization. The sole useful 
function that it can perform without great danger to the educational interests of 
the country at large, as I am at present obliged to think, is in some way to organize 
the educational advantages offered by the Grovernment Departments at Washington, 
and to place them, in a systematic way, at the service of all students. I hope very 
much that the friends of the measure in which you are interested will consent to 
limit the scope of the proposed university to this function. 
I am, my dear Governor, yours, faithfully, 

Seth Low. 



Luther College, 
Decor ah, loiva, February 21, 1896. 
I make haste to inform you that I, in every essential point, most heartily agree 
with the "arguments" against a national university, and am not at all in favor of 
any bill for the establishment of a university controlled and supported by the Gov- 
ernment of the United States, 

Yours, respectfully, Laur. Larsen, 

President Luther College. 



Emory College, 
Oxford, Ga., February 22, 1896. 
My Dear Sir: I beg to say I am emphatically opposed to a national university 
by the General Government. (1) It is an unconstitutional institution. (2) It is an 
unnecessary institution. (3) It would be a most vicious institution, educationally 
and politically. 
You are at liberty to use this as you please. 

I am, yours, sincerely, W. A. Candler. 



UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 13 

Upper Iowa University, 

Fayette, Iowa, Feiritary 20, 1S96. 
* * * 1 have very decided convictions against the General Government found- 
ing a university at Washington. Recent tendencies in the country and political life 
lead me to believe that such an undertaking would not be a success, and not in the 
interest of the highest and best scholarship. 

Yours, very truly, J. M. Bissell. 



Tabor College, 
Talor, Iowa, February 24, 1896. 
Dear Sir : I heartily agree with your position as opposing the foundation of a 
national university to be supported by the Government. 

We do not need such a university, as the State and denominational colleges and 
universities cover the ground thoroughly. 

Sincerely, yours, E. C. Hughes. 



Harvard University, 

Cambridge, January 1, 1896. 

My Dear Sir : Your pleasant letter of December 30 came to hand yesterday. I 
regret to say that I am not able to join you in advocating the establishment of a 
university of the United States. * * * I perceive that you have endeavored to 
make your bill more acceptable than preceding bills to existing institutions; but if 
the proposed university has any function at all, it must prove to be a competitoi* 
with the existing universities. Now, we have too many universities in the United 
States already. If the Government wishes to go into university work it should, in 
my opinion, strengthen the universities we have, and not build another. 

As to the local needs of the city of Washington, they are surely to be well sup- 
plied. The Columbian University, the Catholic University, and the new American 
University will supply the local needs of the District. 

Within the last twenty years so much progress has been made in civil service 
reform that one may be permitted to hope that the university might be partially 
exempted from the operation of the spoils system, but, in my judgment, that exemp- 
tion would be by no means complete even then. I can not feel sure that the profes- 
sors of philosophy, sociology, political economy, history, constitutional law, and 
international law in a national university at Washington would be free men. For 
these reasons, among others, I find myself quite unable to support the bill which 
has just been put before Congress. 

Very truly, yours, Charles W. Eliot. 



Ranbolph Macon College, 

Lynchburg, Va., February 19, 1896. 
Dear Sir: I think the standard argument against enlarging the sphere and func- 
tions of the General Government — multiplying officers and undertaking what can 
safely be left to individual enterprise and philantrophy — coupled with the present 
condition of the national finances, will avail now, as for so many years past when 
conditions seemed much more favorable, to prevent the proposition for a university 
of the United States becoming a law. We are against centralization in this section. 
Yours, sincerely, 

Wm. W. Smith. 



The following educators are opposed to a national university : 

William F. Warren, LL. D., president of Boston University, said: "No nation 

without a national church has ever evolved a nationally supported university 

worthy of mention." 



14 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

F. A. Walker, LL. D., president of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says 
he is strongly opposed to the idea of a national university. 

Prof. John Bascom, LL. D., says a national university is to be objected to on the 
ground that there is no demand for it. "An extreme secular temper would be sure 
to prevail in such an institution. Its moral force would sink to a minimum." 

Dr. J. L. M. Curry, secretary of the Slater fund, is quite outspoken in his opposi- 
tion to the scheme of a national university. 

Prof. E. P. Seaver, superintendent of Boston public schools, says such a scheme 
would be impractical, have no promise of usefulness, and assure no freedom in 
teaching. 

The great churches are practically committed to another policy by having their 
own institutions, or by action of their legislative bodies. 

The Baptists have Chicago University as their center, and Columbian in Wash- 
ington. 

The Presbyterians are committed to Princeton and other institutions. 

The Catholic Church is building a great university for itself here at the national 
capital. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church South are 
committed by their general conferences to the American University. 

The supreme legislative body of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1871 adopted 
the following : 

"Resolved, That except where weighty local or special considerations intervene 
it is our duty to sustain our own educational institutions by our gifts and our 
patronage." 

Bishop Chas. B. Galloway, of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, says : " I 
am convinced of the unwisdom of the proposed university of the United States. 
I favor State education, but not Federal education." 



c. 

The following action is very significant in Anew of the fact that Mr. Pepper, 
ex-provost, argued in favor of a national university at a hearing before the Senate 
Select Committee to Establish the University of the United States, and was supposed 
to represent the feeling in the University of Pennsylvania : 

University of Pennsylvania, Office of the Provost, 

FJiiladelphia, March 6, 1896. 
The attention of the trustees of the University of Pennsylvania has been called 
to the proposed act to establish a " University of the United States." At the last 
meeting of the corporation I submitted a copy of the act and requested an expres- 
sion of opinion upon the proposal. The sentiment was quite unanimous that there 
were few things which the Government of the United States is so illy fitted to do as 
to conduct a great university ; that this was a matter which unquestionably should 
be left to local enterprise and local support. If some arrangement could be made 
by which advanced students throughout the country should have the benefit of the 
vast collections of the United States Government in Washington for purposes of 
study, that would be an excellent arrangement; but it does not seem to us that this 
would require any elaborate machinery, nor the foundation of a '' University of the 
United States." 

Very truly, yours, Chas. C. Harrison, Provost. 

15 



D. 

National Educational Association, 
Department of Higher Education, Tuesday, August 5, 1873. 
Charles W. Eliot, president of Harvard University, read the following report on 
a national university : 

This report has three parts : First, an account of what this association has done 
about a national university since 1869 ; secondly, an examination of two hills on the 
subject which were brought before Congress in 1872, and lastly, a discussion of the 
true policy of our Government upon this matter. 

I turn nest to my third topic, the true policy of our Government as regards uni- 
versity instruction. In almost all the writings about a national university, and of 
course in the two Senate bills now under discussion, there will be found the impli- 
cation, if not the express assertion, that it is somehow the duty of our Government 
to maintain a magnificent university. This assumption is the foundation upon 
which rest the ambitious projects before tis, and many similar schemes. Let me try 
to demonstrate that the foundation is itself unsound. 

The general notion that a beneficent government should provide and control an 
elaborate organization for teaching just as it maintains an army, a navy, or a post- 
oflice, is of European origin, being a legimate corollary to the theory of government 
by divine right. It is said that the state is a person having a conscience and a moral 
responsibility ; that the goveruuient is the visible representative of a people's civil- 
ization and the guardian of its honor and its morals, and should be the embodiment 
of all that is high and good in the ijeople's character and aspirations. This moral 
person — this corporate representative of a Christian nation — has high duties and 
functions commensurate with its great powers, and none more imperative than that of 
diffusing knowledge and advancing science. 

I desire to state this argument for the conduct of high educational institutions 
by government as a matter of abstract duty, with all the force which belongs to 
it, for, under an endless variety of thin disguises and with all sorts of amplifications 
and dilutions, it is a staple commodity with writers upon the relation of government 
to education. The conception of government upon which this argument is based is 
obsolescent everywhere, In a free community the government does not hold this 
parental or patriarchal — I should have said Godlike — position. Our Government is 
a group of servants appointed to do certain difficult and important work. It is not 
the guardian of .the nation's morals; it does not necessarily represent the best virtue 
of the Eepublic, and is not responsible for the national character, being itself one of 
the products of that character. 

The doctrine of state personality and conscience, and the whole argument to the 
dignity and moral elevation of a Christian nation's government as the basis of gov- 
ernment duties, are natural enough under grace-of-God governments, but they find 
no ground of practical application to modern republican confederations ; they have 
no bearing on governments considered as purely human agencies with defined powers 
and limited responsibilities. Moreover, for most Americans these arguments prove a 
great deal too much; for if they have the least tendency to persuade us that the 
Government should direct any part of secular education with how much greater 
force do they apply to the conduct by government of the religious education of the 
people ? These propositions are indeed the main argument for an established church. 
16 



UKIVERSTTY OF THE UNITED STATES. 17 

Religion is tlie supreme human interest ; government is the supreme human organi- 
zation ; therefore, government ought to take care of religion, aud a Christian 
government should maintain distinctively Christian religious institutions. This is 
not theory alone; it is the practice of all Christendom except in America and Swit- 
zerland. Now, we do not admit it to he our duty to establish a national church. 
We believe not only that our people are more religious than many nations which 
have established churches, but also that they are far more religious under their owu 
voluntary system than they would be under any government establishment of 
religion. We do not admit for a moment that establishment or no establishment 
is synonymous with national piety or impiety. Now, if a beneficent Christian gov- 
ernment may rightly leave the people to provide themselves with religious institu- 
tions, surely it may leave them to provide suitable universities for the education of 
their youth. And here, again, the question of national university or no national 
university is by no means synonymous with the question, Shall the country have 
good university education or not? The only qiiestion is, Shall we have a university 
controlled and supported by other agencies ? 

There is, then, no foundation whatever for the assumption that it is the duty of 
our Government to establish a national university. I A^enture to state one broad 
reason why our Government should not establish and maintain a university. If the 
people of the United States have any special destiny, any peculiar functions in the 
world, it is to try and work out, under extraordinarily favorable circumstances, 
the problem of free institutions for a heterogeneous, rich, multitudinous population 
spread over a vast territory. We indeed want to breed scholars, artists, poets, his- 
torians, novelists, engineers, physicians, jurists, theologians, and orators; but, first 
of all, we want to breed a race of independent, self-reliant freemen, capable of help- 
ing, guiding, and governing themselves. Now the habit of being helped by the Gov- 
ernment, even if it be to things good in themselves — to churches, uniArersities, and 
railroads — is a most insidious and irresistible enemy of republicanism; for the very 
essence of republicanism is self-reliance. With the continental nations of Europe it 
is an axiom that the Government is to do everything, and is responsible for every- 
thing. The French have no word for ''public spirit" for the reason that the senti- 
ment is unknown to them. This abject dependence on the Government is an 
accursed inheritance from the days of the divine right of kings. Americans, on the 
contrary, maintain precisely the opposite theory, namely, that Government is to do 
nothing not expressly assigned it to do; that it is to perform no function which any 
private agency can perform as well, and that it is not to do a public good even, 
unless that good be otherwise unattainable. It is hardly too much to say that this 
doctrine is the foundation of our public liberty. So long as the people are really 
free they will maintain it in theory and in practice. During the war of the rebellion 
we got accustomed to seeing the Government spend vast sums of money and put 
forth vast eiforts; and we asked ourselves. Why should not some of these great 
resources and powers be applied to works of peace, to creation as well as to destruc- 
tion ? So we subsidized railroads and steamship companies and agricultural colleges, 
and now it is proposed to subsidize a university. 

The fatal objection to this subsidizing process is that it saps the foundations of 
public liberty. The only adequate securities of public liberty are the national 
habits, traditions, and character acquired and accumulated in the practice of liberty 
and self control. Interrupt these traditions, break up these habits, or cultivate the 
opposite ones, or poison that national character, and public liberty will suddenly be 
found defenseless. We deceive ourselves dangerously when we think or speak as if 
education, whether primary or university, could guarantee republican institutions. 
Education can do no such thing. A republican people should indeed be educated and 
intelligent, but it by no means follows that an educated and intelligent people will 
be republican. Do I seem to conjure up imaginary evils to follow from this benefi- 
cent establishment of a superb national university? We teachers should be the last 

S.-Eep. 429, pt. 2 2 



18 UNIVERSITY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

people to forget tlie souud advice — ohsta principiis. A drop of water will put out a 
spark which otherwise would have kindled a conflagration that rivers could not 
quench. 

Let us cling to the genuine American method — the old Massachusetts method — in 
the matter of public instruction. The essential features of that system are local 
taxes for universal elementary education, voted by the citizens themselves, local 
elective boards to spend the money raised by taxation and control the schools, and 
for the higher grades of instruction permanent endowments administered by incor- 
porated bodies of trustees. This is the American voluntary system, in sharp contrast 
with the military, despotic organization of public instruction which prevails in 
Prussia and most other States of continental Europe. Both systems have peculiar 
advantages, the crowning advantage of the American method being that it breeds 
freemen. Our ancestors well iinderstood the principle that to make a people free 
and self reliant it is necessary to let them take care of themselves, even if they do 
not take cxuite as good care of themselves as some superior power might. 

And now, finally, let us ask, What should make a university at the capital of the 
United States, established and supported by the General Government, more national 
than any other American university? It might be larger and richer than any other, 
and it might not bo; but certainly it could not have a monopoly of patriotism or of 
catholicity, or of literary or scientific enthusiasm. There is an attractive compre- 
hensiveness and a suggestion of public spirit and love of country in the term 
"national;" but, after all, the adjective only narrows and belittles the noble con- 
ception contained in the word ''university." Letters, science, art, philosophy, medi- 
cine, law, and theology are larger and more enduring than nations. There is some- 
thing childish in this uneasy hankering for a big university in America, as there is 
also in that impatient longing for a distinctive American literature which we hear 
so often expressed. As American life grows more various and richer in sentiment, 
passion, thought, and accumulated experience, American literature will become 
richer and more abounding, and in that better day let us hope that there will be 
found several universities in America, though by no means one in each State, as free, 
liberal, rich, national, and glorious as the warmest advocate of a single, crowning 
university at the national cajiital could imagine his desired institution to become. 



E. 

1701 Massachusetts Avenu:^, 

Washington, D. C, April 3, 1896. 

My Dear Senator: I regard the bill lor the proposed University of the United 
States as one which would bring only disappointment and disaster to the interests 
of higher education in this country. For a good many years a similar bill has been 
before Congress, but multitudes of people, who are averse to it on most serious 
grounds, have never considered it as likely to pass, and therefore Congress has heard 
but little of these objections ; but now that a standing committee has been appointed 
on the subject, from those who see in it only danger to our educational system the 
expressions of opposition are becoming numerous. In the few past weeks I have 
received many such opinions and a selection from these has been placed in the hands 
of the coramittee. I sincerely hope that the adverse opinions of the presidents of 
such institutions as Harvard University, Yale, Columbia, and the entire faculty 
of the University of Pennsylvania, will have their due weight with the Senators of 
the United States in calling a halt on such a measure. 

Had it been our purpose to have ministerial and other associations send on their 
opinion of the measure, there would have been such a flood of adverse correspond- 
ence as would have been an annoyance to our Senators. We have not done this, but 
rather discouraged it, hoping that both the committees who have the supervision 
of these matters would see the wisdom of adhering to the course which the examples 
and traditions of the past have proved to be the only true national system of educa- 
tion in our Republic, namely: (1) Primary education to be conducted at the public 
expense. (2) The college curriculum to be provided for by the State universities 
and colleges. (§) The post graduate and professional schools to be left to the volun- 
tary benevolence of the individual citizen. 

It is safe to say that within the last thirty years not less than $100,000,000 have 
been given by the open hands and generous hearts of private citizens for education 
in the United States. Why, then, should the current of voluntary generosity be 
arrested by the proposition to make the United States Treasury responsible for the 
highest education f Why should the State undertake to do what the citizen is ready 
and glad to do ? 

I remain yours, sincerely, John F. Hurst. 

Hon. Edward C. Walthall, 

United States Senate, City. 



-^ 



APPENDIX. 

LETTER FROM JOHN F. HURST. 1701 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE, 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 



April 9, 1896. 

Dear Sir: tn the Seuate document, Calendar No. 484, I find on page 41 a "letter 
of Hon. Andrew D. White correcting erroneous statements concerning Cornell Uni- 
versity." Mr. White says : " On looking over the stenographic report of the remarks 
made by Bishop Hurst and Dr. Beiler before your committee, I observe that they 
have fallen into one or two very serious errors regarding Cornell University. 
The first is shown in the statement to the effect that the charter of the institution 
has been changed so as to restrict the choice of j)rofes8ors to certain Christian 
denominations and 'evangelical' denominations." On this alleged statement, he 
makes quite an argument in order to refute it. He also says that we made "the 
virtual assertion that the professors of the university are confined to these evangel- 
ical denominations." 

I deny having made either of these alleged statements. I simply said that I was 
once informed, while in Ithaca, N. Y., by one of the most honored trustees and lib- 
eral benefactors of Cornell University, that during the absence of the president 
(Mr. White) in Berlin certain complications had arisen in reference to matters of 
doctrine, and that the trustees had found it necessary to have the charter so changed 
that the majority of the board of trustees should consist of members of evangelical 
denominations. Should Mr. White so desire, I can give you the name of my inform- 
ant. For the stenographic report, and for Mr. White's construction of it, of course, 
I should not be held responsible. My remarks were not intended in the least to be 
a disparagement but rather a commendation of the management of the institution 
in providing safeguards for its ethical and doctrinal influence. Please do me the 
favor to see that this correction is made. 
I remain, yours sincerely, 

John F. Hurst. 

Hon. James H. Kyi.e, 

Chairman of the Committee on the University of the United States. 







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